Transport bosses have won a national award for their ambitious approach to public transport in Brighton and Hove.

Thanks to it, people in the city are leaving their cars at home and catching the bus to work.

The city council's transport plan has won admirers in bus-friendly cities from Edinburgh to Hong Kong.

More than 120 city buses are named after famous residents, such as boxer Chris Eubank and Argus journalist Adam Trimingham, while a live information system at 120 bus stops means passengers know exactly when buses are due.

The council won a public service award from The Guardian newspaper at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, yesterday. Judges said: "The council is streets ahead of the rest of the UK in attracting people on to the buses and out of their cars."

Its transport plan set a ten-year target of a five per cent year-on-year rise in passengers.

Last year, there were 34,265,000 bus journeys in the area - a five per cent increase on 2002/03 and on target to meet the 2010 goal.

The council took advice from more than 300 groups representing residents, education and business about what improvements they wanted in the Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company's service.

They commissioned transport researchers who came up with plans for a major revamp of the 120 bus stops in Brighton and Hove so people in wheelchairs or with children could get on easily.

The bus company spent £3 million on 18 new, low-emission, easy-access buses which "kneel down" when they park so there is no gap between pavement and bus.

Stops are linked to a real-time information system, jointly run by the council and the bus company, which allow passengers to know when the next bus is due.

Gill Mitchell, chairwoman of the council's environment committee, said: "We are happy with the results. Our target is for 80 per cent of the population to be living within easy reach of a daytime service every ten minutes."