Armed with their trusty computers and a host of cryptic clues, it was time to put the power of the internet to the test.

Four journalists found themselves dumped in Brighton and Hove on a special assignment to picture themselves at a series of the city's famous landmarks.

Sounds simple enough but the team had not been told one vital piece of information - where to go.

Instead, Daniel Booth, 28, and Toby Earle, 26, who teamed up to pit their wits against Matt Chapman, 30, and Andy Shaw, 31, were fed a dozen cryptic clues from which they had to guess their next stop.

And they could only use the internet search engine Google on their hand-held computers to solve the riddles.

Toby, who last visited Brighton as a child, said: "The aim was to show how versatile Google is and how the most obvious things you are looking for can be found by Google quickly.

"We were thrown in the deep end and there was no indication of where we were going in Brighton.

"Although we had the clues and the computers, we had to take it from there and hope we completed it as quickly as possible."

Both teams' starting times were staggered and they used the city's buses to get around as well as good old leg power.

Their challenge began on the train just before Three Bridges station with the clue: "A stuck-up character left his wife a half-finished Desperate Dan. Add his name to Reynard and play a card game popular in the US."

After a quick trip on the information superhighway, the cryptic clue led them to The Snooty Fox pub in Three Bridges.

Toby said: "Clue one took us ages to solve because it was the first clue and we did not know the strategy."

After getting into the swing of things, the friends first stop in Brighton took them to the Duke of Yorks Cinema.

From there it was a short walk to The Level after solving the clue: "This part of town gave Chadwick, Sevnick and their Friend a name to fiddle with."

Google had brought up the band, The Levellers, who took their name from The Level, which is in the area where they lived as students.

Next, a clue took them to the Gala Bingo in Edward Street and on route from there was Bowlplex at Brighton Marina.

Toby said: "I have not seen the marina since it was renovated. I didn't even know that it had been done up."

It was then off to the the Royal Pavilion and the Gametrader shop in Sydney Street, North Laine.

There, disaster nearly struck for Andy and Matt's team.

Andy said: "We were wandering down the middle of the street and Matt very nearly got attacked by a cyclist because he was so busy looking at the shops rather than concentrating on any road traffic."

While this was going on, Toby enjoyed his trip to the North Laine. He said "That was somewhere I don't think I had seen before.

"I would like to spend more time looking around there. People have been saying for ages Brighton is like a mini London. That definitely applies to that area."

It was then time for a break in the Battle of Trafalgar pub, near Brighton station, before the next clue took them down to the seafront and the West Pier.

For Toby it was a moving sight.

He said: "It was such as shame what happened to it. I had not seen it since I was last down as a kid."

After a trip down memory lane, the tenth clue took the London-based computer boffins to the Powerplant hi-fi shop in North Street where they discovered the store had moved to a new location in Church Road, Hove.

But then the penultimate clue - another pub - resulted in a visit to the Grand Central pub in Surrey Street.

Like a typical journalist, Andy said: "For me and Matt our favourite clues were ones that led us to pubs so that we could have a pint."

So was more time spent in pubs than finding clues?

Toby insisted it was not. He said: "I can honestly say we went to the pub for a bite to eat. The majority of the time was spent walking around."

But the game was not over yet and the final clue had Toby and Daniel stumped.

It read: "Find a fishy addition to a Yorkshire & Humberside MEP's name, then discover its location by asking Google for Sussex Downs College's former name."

The clue should have taken them to the skate park in Lewes Road but Toby said: "We were looking for the skate park and we ended up at a recycling centre, which was not quite what the described destination was. Apart from that, we went everywhere."

On the train home, Matt and Andy were lucky to see one more famous sight of Brighton - Norman Cook, otherwise known as DJ Fatboy Slim.

Andy said: "It was just a chance meeting on the train on the way back to London. He just happened to be in the same carriage as us.

"We did not really want to get in his way. He was sitting opposite me in the other corner of the carriage and I spotted him. Matt is a big fan and we decided we would politely ask if he would mind having his photo taken. He was very friendly."

Although Toby and Daniel solved all 12 clues in 51 minutes and officially won, Matt and Andy solved 11 clues in just 32 minutes. Everyone agreed they had a great day seeing the sights and vowed to return to the city.

Andy said: "There are lots of interesting places to go. It was nice to explore a place like that.

"You assume the internet is going to give information about America and big places like that but actually there is a lot of local information.

"I learned a lot about the things there are to do in Brighton and Hove."

Toby said: "I enjoyed seeing parts I had never seen before. I think it's a brilliant place."

So could the internet be the tourist guide of the future?

Toby said: "It is so much better than having to lug around a tourist book. If you are looking at it from a tourist point of view, this could make it a lot better to see things you want to see."

The article is featured in the latest edition of Web User magazine dated June 26 to July 9.