PLANS are being drawn up to build a tourist trail through the centre of Brighton and regenerate part of the North Laine.

The route will include plaques featuring cartoon seagulls, a symbol of the town and Brighton and Hove Albion, and is part of a revamp of the railway station and Queen's Road.

Work will be carried out to give run-down Trafalgar Street a face-lift by laying brick paving and granite and adding French street furniture.

Brighton and Hove Council is masterminding the cross-Channel project with Dieppe and has won a £264,000 grant from the European Union.

Routes will be laid down in both towns and are being designed jointly by English and French architects.

A marketing drive will be launched to encourage residents and tourists to hop across the Channel on the fast ferry from Newhaven and follow the trail in both towns.

Rob Fraser, council conservation and regeneration manager, said: "The thinking behind it is parts of town like the North Laine are not areas where tourists would naturally visit without some sort of guide.

"We want to encourage people to spend money by visiting as many commercial premises as possible, and we also want people who live in Brighton to visit Dieppe and the other way round."

Mr Fraser added: "The experience of people getting off the train in Brighton is going to be better by the improvements to the station and the Gateway. And we then want to give visitors a better experience of the town by leading them into it through a different way."

Bilingual leaflets describing the route will be available and large-scale maps of areas of the towns will be put up as part of the trail.

The winning seagull plaque, which will be built into pavements and street furniture, was chosen following a competition by French and British des-igners.

The circular route will lead from the station down Trafalgar Street, through the North Laine, into The Lanes, on to the seafront, up West Street and back to the station.

Geoff Ellis of the North Laine Traders' Association said: "We hope it will encourage people to see a bit more of Brighton."

The council will consult with traders and residents over the next two months.

It is then hoped work to improve Trafalgar Street will begin in the spring, and that work on the path will have started by autumn.

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