Begging is at an unacceptable level in Brighton and Hove, according to a new report on rough sleeping.

In the report, due to be discussed by councillors tomorrow, housing head Gary Thurston says there is also far too much street drinking, drug taking and dealing.

Mr Thurston says the actual number of people living on the street was fairly low.

He adds: "We know from research carried out by the police, the rough sleepers' unit and our own community safety survey there is an escalating problem around street nuisance."

Mr Thurston says the decisions of homeless people to go to Brighton and Hove are linked to the perception that it is a nice place to be in and in some cases, that it is easy to go unnoticed or unchallenged.

Mr Thurston's report links in with the Argus campaign Don't Give to Beggars, which encourages people to give money to agencies dealing with the homeless rather than hand it directly to beggars on the streets where it often ends up in the pockets of drug dealers.

He says: "This avoids the risk that donations are used to fund drug habits or that the people begging are not genuinely homeless.

"Although the details of the scheme have still to be developed, initial feedback suggests town centre businesses are keen to adopt such an initiative."

Mr Thurston says many of the rough sleepers who arrive in Brighton and Hove from elsewhere cannot be helped.

Efforts are being made to try and rehouse them in other areas where there is a surplus of social housing.

The Government's £7 million grant to Brighton and Hove to tackle the problem has helped reduce the numbers from 60 last year to 26 this year.

But more action is being taken including the new temporary street shelter in Hove and a bid for £100,000 a year funding to help treat rough sleepers with drink or drugs problems.

Yesterday a Government scheme urging people not to give to beggars, which followed the Argus campaign, was branded as "fundamentally misguided" by a group of academics.

Sixty social policy experts have written to Prime Minister Tony Blair expressing alarm over what they claim could be a "potentially harmful campaign", warning it could force people into crime and prostitution.

The Government's campaign, due to start next month, will suggest that in the run-up to Christmas, people should donate their money to charities, help out in soup kitchens or give food and clothes.

But the academics, all experts in homelessness, poverty and begging, said the immediate survival needs of beggars should not be ignored.