Commuters could be shopping their way to their morning train and getting a caffeine-fix seconds from boarding, if new plans for Brighton Station go ahead.

Proposals for a new "access mall", stretching from Trafalgar Street to the station concourse, feature a sloping walkway lined with shops.

The alternative entrance would replace the disused Victorian toilet block and storage space beside it.

There are also plans for a disabled lift from the street to the station.

A spokesman for Frankham Consultancy Group, which is acting as an agent for Southern Railway, said the project could cost as much as half a million pounds.

He said the antique mosaic floors in the ladies and gents toilets would be preserved - possibly at great expense.

He said: "It is a way of providing another entrance in an increasingly busy station.

"It is also using space which is not doing anything at the moment, capitalising on what the building has to offer.

"Southern Railway have lease of the railway for seven years but they are hoping to be there longer and so are thinking long-term. They are very committed to the station."

The rail group is planning to put a new coffee stall between platforms seven and eight for travellers who do not want to go through the barriers to the main station.

The idea is aimed at those who travel into Brighton from along the coast to catch another train up to the capital and who therefore would not automatically pass by the main concourse.

The spokesman said: "A lot of people only have about five minutes before their connecting train leaves, which obviously is not long enough to go and get their morning coffee."

There was a mixed reaction from commuters to the plans, which will be decided by Brighton and Hove City Council in September.

Clare Bowskill, 32, of Buckingham Road, Brighton, said: "I'm all for more shops for the lazy commuter but you just know that all the shops are going to be big corporations and not local businesses.

"There's a local couple serving coffee but they have to do it outside the station. It would be great if they were given the platform spot.

"But local traders won't be able to afford the rent and we will end up with even more chain shops."

Steve Percy, chairman of campaign group the People's Parking Protest, said: "It is all very fine but what is going to happen with all the extra traffic these new shops will attract?

Terminus Road is blocked for most of the day as it is.

"You are going to bring more people in and cause more traffic outside the station.

"You also need to create more parking to cope with the extra people."