When Andrew Blackburn first saw chrome-covered 'low-rider' bicycles with seats just inches from the ground while travelling in California, he was smitten.

Two years later, he has become the first person to import the West Coast wheels and has opened LowLife Cycles, a shop in Sillwood Street, Brighton, to sell them.

Now Mr Blackburn and his wife Emma are hoping his fantastical bikes will become as popular on Sussex streets as the silver Micro Scooters which have been such a hit this summer.

Mr Blackburn said: "I made some contacts and started a business importing them from my bedroom.

"It was always my dream to own a shop."

Mr Blackburn admitted: "They are not technologically advanced. They are show bicycles.

"But most of the stuff in the shop you can't get anywhere else."

The craze for low-slung bikes followed a trend in California to adapt cars to run as low to the road as possible.

Children emulating their parents did the same thing to bikes and the low-riders were born.

The cheapest bikes cost around £300.

Two bikes were sold in the first weekend of trading and Mr Blackburn said Brighton was definitely the place to be for novel cycle sellers.

"Brighton is the perfect place for it. It's the hippest town in England."

Mr Blackburn started his career as a design student at Brunel University but the sight of California's bikes persuaded him to change direction.

He said the shop was more like a showroom than a traditional bike store with dream machines for customers to wander in and admire.

"People are welcome to come and have a gaze," said Mr Blackburn.

The shop will stay open until 8pm all September to pick up late-evening trade.

He is winding down his painting and decorating firm to devote more time to his bike enterprise but his interior design know-how came in useful when he moved into his shop.

"It was a bomb site when I moved in but I've replastered it and given it an Americana paint job."

www.lowlifecycles.com