Butchers in Brighton are struggling to make ends meet following a dramatic decline in trade.

When Sydney Street's PCH Butchers closed a week ago it became just the latest family-run butchers to fall foul of the changing times.

Butchers blame supermarkets and a rise in vegetarianism for the number of shops putting up the closed sign for the last time.

James King, the former proprietor of PCH Butchers, said: "When I first started in the Fifties, there were seven shops in Sydney Street alone, in Brighton there were as many butchers' shops as there were pubs."

He said the decline in trade was due partly to the high rents in the Brighton.

He said: "We had some problems during the years. Vegetarians have put super glue in the locks, shouted abuse and sometimes spat on the shop windows.

"We put up with it because it was only a minority of people.

"The bigger problem was that rent and rates kept on going up and up.

"After sixteen years of having the same landlord, the new person put the rent up by 80 per cent.

"I would have needed to take an extra £450 a week just to stand still and you can't find that sort of trade in the area."

The remaining butchers in the area are worried about their future and remember a more prosperous time.

Graham Maides, co-proprietor of M&B Meats in London Road, said they were up against tough competition from out-of-town supermarkets.

He said: "The rates and the rent go up, but we can't afford to put the price of the meat up because we then wouldn't be able to compete with the supermarkets.

"We have been here for four years and it's the worst it has been in this town. We just about scrape a living."

While there used to be more than 100 small, family-run butchers' shops in the town, that number has dwindled to a handful.

Neil Underhill, co-proprietor of Principal Meats, in London Road, said: "Between the seafront and Preston Circus there used to be around 60 butchers' shops, now there are hardly any."

In fact, there are now just four listed in the Brighton Yellow Pages for that area.

Mr Underhill points to a change in people's buying habits for the decline.

He said: "You get an awful lot of people who just don't know what to ask for.

"They are too used to going to supermarkets and having everything pre-packed."