Booming Brighton and Hove is seeing unemployment fall faster than anywhere else in England.

There has been a 1.2 per cent drop in the number of people out of work in the area over the past year.

That makes it the fastest falling area in the country followed by Thanet, on the Essex and London border, with 1.1 per cent closely followed by Hastings which has seen a 0.9 per cent drop.

There were 6,985 people out of work in Brighton and Hove in June, a drop of 1,177 over the previous 12 months.

The figures were compiled by the Brighton and Hove Regional Economic Team, which is a department within Brighton and Hove Council.

Brighton and Hove has seen unemployment drastically fall after becoming one of the leaders of the new technology and new media boom.

It is one of the top ten areas in Britain for internet access. One third of all homes and businesses in Brighton are online.

It is doing better than other coastal towns and cities at getting the jobless totals down.

Plymouth and Portsmouth have both seen a 0.7 per cent drop in the past 12 months while Swansea has seen a 0.2 per cent fall. All three are used as bench marks for Brighton and Hove's progress.

Even allowing for changes in the boundaries of the Brighton and Hove unitary authority and the travel-to-work area, it has been more successful than any other parts of the country in reducing unemployment.

But with an unemployment rate of 5.2 per cent of the available working population, it still has one of the highest rates in the country beaten only by Liverpool, Tyneside and Thanet.

The national unemployment rate is 3.6 per cent nationwide compared with 2.0 per cent across the South-East.

The Brighton travel-to-work area, which takes in Shoreham, Lewes, Newhaven and Burgess Hill, has also seen a drop. The numbers out of work have declined 0.8 per cent.

East Sussex has seen a 0.8 per cent drop whereas West Sussex has seen a 0.3 per cent drop.

Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper said: "It proves the Government's New Deal programme and support for Brighton and Hove is paying off. "There is a great deal of confidence in the area and large numbers of skilled people educated here are staying, getting employment and starting their own business."