The lights went out on Brighton's Palace Pier for an hour to raise awareness of climate change.

The iconic structure was among buildings across the country plunged into darkness as part of Earth Hour.

Organiser WWF-UK enlisted the support of 28 local authorities to switch off their lights between 8pm and 9pm on Saturday night.

A spokeswoman for WWF-UK explained the event would be repeated again next year when the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen will be held.

She said: "This year was a warm-up year. We decided we would push it our further in 2009.

"We are going to send out a big message that people around the world really care."

The event was part of a global campaign with lights going off at iconic landmarks including the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge for the hour.

Earth Hour was started by WWF-Australia in Sydney last year, which saw 2.2 million people and more than 2,100 businesses turn their lights off.

The lights were also turned off at the Welsh Assembly, Warwick Castle, the theatre district of Milton Keynes and all the arcades in Great Yarmouth.