Brighton and Hove is failing to capitalise on the economic success of the South-East, according to a major study of England's leading urban areas.

It is lagging behind many other major centres despite its proximity to London, the Government-commissioned research found.

The State Of The English Cities report hailed an urban renaissance in the last decade with all 56 major towns and cities reporting economic progress.

But, while those in the south and east generally outperformed those in the north and west, Brighton fell behind the national average.

It recorded 41 per cent economic growth between 1995 and 2002 while the increase across England was 42.7.

Brighton and Hove City Council last night questioned the validity of the report. A spokesman said: "It uses figures from many years ago that simply do not reflect the current, vibrant state of the city's economy."

He said the council was in the top ten per cent of local authorities in the Government's business growth incentive scheme.

It recently received a Government reward of nearly £1 million for out-performing its targets.

The spokesman said major projects such as development at the Brighton Centre, King Alfred, Black Rock and Brighton station site were expected to secure £2 billion investment over the next decade.

Other Sussex towns also fell behind the average, with Worthing and Crawley registering 40 per cent growth and Hastings 24 per cent.

London grew by 50 per cent and Reading showed the best performance with 77 per cent growth.

Dale Thomson, from Worthing Borough Council, said: "I am not too worried because there are lots of positive figures about Worthing in the report such as employment growth rates. This report talks about cities but we are not a city. I think we have been included because the Government can see there's potential here.

"Worthing is definitely on the rise. Watch this space."

Crawley Borough Council leader Chris Redmayne said: "Our growth may be average but we're starting from a high base.

"We have an immensely strong economy and working with businesses, the education sector and other public agencies we aim to keep it that way."

Hastings Borough Council leader Jeremy Birch said: "These figures are precisely why we now have five-point regeneration programme.

"These statistics date back as far back as the mid-Nineties. This is 2006 and our regeneration programme is well under way."

Wednesday, March 8, 2006