Couch potatoes on a deprived housing estate are being encouraged to switch off the television and get on their feet.

Residents in East Brighton - recognised as deprived by the Government - are apparently some of the unhealthiest in Brighton and Hove.

Now eb4u, which is being funded to the tune of £47.2 million by the Government over ten years to improve education, health, employment and social standards in the area, have invested £15,000 in a project to make people fitter.

Brighton and Hove Healthwalks has been set up to encourage residents to take a walk.

It is being run by co-ordinator Corinna Edwards-Colledge, who is working on a series of healthy walk projects which is being jointly funded by eb4u, Brighton and Hove City Council and the Walking The Way To Health organisation.

According to Government statistics, the average life expectancy of men and women living in the East Brighton area is shorter than for the city as a whole.

East Brighton residents are more likely to smoke and less likely to use preventative services such as breast and cervical cancer screening.

The Healthwalks aim to get the overweight residents up and about and to help those who suffer from heart and other health problems, such as asthma, walk their way to fitness.

Corinna said: "The walks are aimed at sedentary people. People who do no exercise at all."

The plan is to have signs put up from the marina to Hove lagoon with a map of a walk route and information about how far people have walked when they reach certain points.

It is hoped people from Whitehawk will start the walks from Arundel Road.

There will also be volunteer-led walks, where walkers, trained by the British Heart Foundation, lead people along the seafront and Sheepcote Valley.

Many of those who join the scheme will be referred by GPs or healthcare professionals who believe that gentle exercise will improve the fitness level of residents.

Corinna said: "On a scale of one to six, if a sedentary person is at one and an Olympian at six, by taking a few walks you can get to number two on the scale. By doing that you halve your risk of death from a heart attack or stroke."

It is hoped that the scheme, which will run for three years, will be attractive to people who want to improve their fitness levels, lose weight and improve their social contact but do not want vigorous exercise.