Young people have made short films to highlight how the area where they live could be improved.

The scheme was part of a project aimed at getting more children and teenagers involved in activities to improve their communities East Sussex County Council has given £100,000 to various schemes including one involving children and young people from Peacehaven and the Hollington area of St Leonards.

More than 60 people aged seven to 19 from the two areas used an innovative research technique called emotimapping to tell the council how they feel about the area in which they live.

They went out on location to film and interview one another talking about these places and what they thought could be done to improve them.

The young people involved stressed they wanted more things to do and places to go.

They also had ideas about how to tackle problems like vandalism, graffiti, litter and antisocial behaviour.

Some of the money will help deal with some of the issues raised including an Operation Clean Sweep which would get local people and organisations working together to clean up some of their community hotspots.

The rest will be used to roll the project out to other parts of the county.

Cabinet member for children and families Meg Stroude said: "This was an excellent, innovative way for us to engage with young people and a large number were involved in the project.

"I am delighted we can agree this funding not only to help tackle some of the issues they raised in Peacehaven and Hollington but also to take forward the initiative to some other areas."