If Bank Holiday weekend is fine it's a safe bet that newspapers will run pictures of Brighton beach, barely an inch of shingle uncovered by bathing costumes.

What a season this has been for Brighton. Even when the Queen of Watering Places was a shimmering princess, she never attracted crowds of this size.

The place has been packed all summer and there is no sign that its popularity will abate.

Indeed, if all the shoreline development currently mooted becomes reality, there will be millions more people each year crowding what the publicity officers of the past liked to call seven miles of glorious seafront, and not just during the summer.

They will go to the revamped Marina, Black Rock, Peter Pan's Playground, Brighton Centre, West Pier, King Alfred and Shoreham Harbour.

The city has enough trouble coping with the numbers now. How will it manage to deal with even more in the future? There are ways and the planners should be looking at them now.

In the long term, a rapid transit system from Shoreham to the Marina would greatly help the east-west flow and a similar line up, over or under the London Road to Patcham, would also be a boon. But measures are needed more quickly than that.

A temporary park-and-ride site somewhere near the bypass, perhaps at Patcham Court Farm, might ease the strain on fine weekend days.

So would notices for motorists queuing along the A23 saying that they could reach the seafront a junction or two down at Dyke Road or the Hangleton Link. Diversion notices would also take traffic for the return leg on routes other than the A23.

Much more could be done to encourage people to arrive and depart by train.

It's strange that train operators should run a reduced service to resorts such as Brighton on Sundays, the one day when everyone wants to go there.

A faster, more regular service both to Brighton and on the West Coastway route would help many people avoid the awful summertime jams.

Brighton also needs to spread its pleasures more widely. At present it is totally congested between the piers but less so elsewhere.

There is good access by bus to Hove and at the western end there is even parking close to the sea. A series of alluring seafront cafes would add to the appeal of Hove west of the King Alfred.

There has for years been a huge wasted opportunity between Hove Lagoon and the eastern arm of Shoreham Harbour. The port authority, a few years ago, showed its customary disregard for the general public by rebuilding the main road far too close to the shore.

Realigning it only a few yards back would create a wonderful area of beach, nearly a mile and a half long, which could take cafes, parking, watersports and all sorts of other amenities far away from frenetic, frantic Brighton.

It should certainly be done when at long last the port is revamped with leisure in mind.

If nothing is done, Brighton may start to lose customers simply because they cannot get into the resort any more.

This would be a shame since the city has so much to offer and no other resort in the South offers anything like its bizarre and brilliant mixture of fun and frolics.

Extend the beach attractions while trying to sort out congestion on the A23 and all will be well.

Otherwise the city fathers and others will reluctantly be putting up signs at The Pylons saying the place is full.

Punters would then have to go to Worthing, and that really would be the last resort.