Brighton and Hove has been officially listed as one of the leafiest cities in England.

An independent report published today by the National Audit Office found people in the city enjoyed some of the best urban green space.

In the report to Parliament, the audit office named Brighton and Hove among 12 urban neighbourhood renewal areas that are spearheading a revival of quality living environments.

The others include five London boroughs, South Coast cities such as Portsmouth, Southampton and Plymouth, and northern conurbations Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Wirral.

They are among 29 per cent of local authorities that met Government target on residents' satisfaction with open space.

People living in Worthing, Eastbourne and Crawley were also pleased with the available green space, the report said.

Gill Mitchell, chairwoman of the council's environment committee, promised the authority would safeguard the future of the city's parks.

She said: "Our parks are our jewels. We are lucky to have a combination of heritage parks with a lot of history and more informal open spaces such as The Level.

"We are committed to improving and maintaining those open spaces."

The council will shortly publish its parks and open spaces strategy, which will seek to protect and conserve parks and biodiversity and increase awareness about the city's green spaces.

Its best known parks and spaces include Queen's Park, Preston Park and Sheepcote Valley, all in Brighton, Hove Park and St Anne's Wells Gardens in Hove and East Hill Park in Portslade.

The audit office praised initiatives by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) for helping to reverse the decline of urban squares, parks, greens and nature reserves.

These initiatives include the prioritisation of investment in green space through new funding sources from the Government and the Lottery.

But the audit office also warned that sustaining these improvements was "not guaranteed".

Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, said: "Good quality green space is a vital element of a civilised urban environment.

"Initiatives by the ODPM are in many parts of the country contributing to a reverse in the decline in the quality of green space."

But he added: "The provision of urban green space is still at risk of being treated as a Cinderella service at the local level.

"The case for expenditure needs to be made more effectively and resources targeted where they will have most effect in improving the environment of green spaces."