Traders and residents want CCTV cameras to be installed to stem a growing tide of crime on an estate.

Businesses in the Dip shopping parade, in Hollingdean, Brighton, want the cameras, following a spate of vandalism.

Shopkeepers gathered about 1,000 signatures on a petition, which they have handed to police.

Philip Philipou, who has run the J&E Fish Bar for 13 years, said the measure would help prevent criminal damage and dissuade drug dealers from operating in the Dip.

He said: "All the shopkeepers started talking and we all felt the same way.

"We are on the front line and know what's going on. We deal with people every day telling us their cars or their houses have been broken into.

"People come here from areas like Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb because there's nothing to deter them. They have CCTV in their areas and the city centre has CCTV and we feel that criminals are looking for easy targets.

"We never see police here. We used to have a chap who would walk up and down and know everyone on the estate but he has gone."

He said the bus shelter in the parade was regularly smashed, shop windows had been broken and his son's car had twice been attacked outside his shop.

Mr Philipou said he moved to Brighton from a rough part of London and, while the vandalism he had encountered here had not been as bad, he would like to see trouble "nipped in the bud".

Sergeant Steve French of Sussex Police said he had not received the petition but was in favour of CCTV in principle.

He said: "It has worked in other areas but I don't know how it would be funded.

"I would not say Hollingdean is one of the worst areas for crime in Brighton. But we have shut down two drug houses in the last few weeks and are serving evictions on people for harassment and drug dealing along with the council."

He said there were two new beat officers covering the estate.

Hollingdean city councillor Jeane Lepper said: "I am a great believer in CCTV as I believe it has cut down crime, vandalism and assaults in the centre of Brighton.

"It is not the answer to all problems. It would act as a deterrent but it is only as good as its positioning and monitoring.

"After Christmas, we are trying to arrange a meeting about community safety in the whole of Hollingdean, not just the Dip.

"There is a lot of investment in the area though, what with the Sure Start and Neighbourhood Renewal programmes."