Only granted city status for less than a fortnight and Brighton and Hove is already one of the top cities in the country.

At least, so says a survey by University College, London, and Southampton University.

City status can only be good news for the local economy and the property market. But as the survey shows, there is still a north- south divide.

In Sussex there is a west-east divide, too, with prosperous Chichester in the west and Hastings and St Leonards limping along in the east.

There has to be greater help and funding for poorer areas of the country - otherwise cities like Chichester and Brighton and Hove will continue to boom at the expense of places like Hastings, and the divides will deepen.