Christmas is two weeks away but if you walk around the centre of Brighton and Hove it is difficult to imagine the festive season is supposed to be in full swing.

If you go to any other city in the country, you will see city centres ablaze with Christmas lights. This year, Brighton and Hove's efforts have reached rock-bottom. There are no Christmas decorations in the main streets. Even the few strings of lights Brighton and Hove City Council previously hung around the Clock Tower have not appeared and there are no signs of the reindeer on the lampposts.

There are no lights in the central shopping area. The tall Christmas tree from Norway in front of St Peter's Church - gone. The decorated tree and music in the Steine - gone. Hanningtons Christmas window displays and outside decorations - gone.

The council will say the shops won't pay for the decorations but in most other cities the responsibilities for the decorations are taken on by councils, which see it as an essential part of city life. Brighton and Hove even pays a salary to a city centre manager, who should be ashamed of the absence of Christmas lights.

North Laine is the obvious exception but, presumably, because of the dynamic leadership of a group of shopkeepers rather than council organisation. The other exception this year is the Gingerbread House, which is a wonderful place to take children. But we have to thank The Argus Christmas Appeal committee and local businesses for this isolated gem.

It is ridiculous for Brighton and Hove to have fewer Christmas decorations than many of the villages and towns nearby. Scrooge really has taken over with a vengeance.

-Malcolm Dawes, Rugby Road, Brighton