Trade is booming in Brighton town centre with sales increasing and the number of empty shops falling.

A survey of 24 stores carried out by the Town Centre Business Forum shows turnover increased by 9.9 per cent in January to April compared with the same period last year.

Empty shops are being occupied again with the retail vacancy rate falling from 7.9 per cent to 6.8 per cent during the same period.

The star performer is the revamped Queen's Road, whose vacancy rate dropped from 17 per cent last September to four per cent.

However, town centre manager Tony Mernagh warned the next set of results in August would probably show trade had suffered because of poor weather over the summer.

He said: "The results show the town is performing very well but they include the millennium which is perhaps why gift shops were so well off.

"The weather will be a factor that will depress a lot of economic activity because we have not had as many visitors.

"A lot of people will go abroad instead of coming to Brighton. Fashion retailers will also suffer because no one wants to buy summer clothes."

Mr Mernagh said the biggest growth had been in gift and book stores and the smallest in large department stores.

There is also a need for wages to improve so locals can afford to live in the increasingly prosperous town.

The Argus has revealed how many locals are being priced out of the housing market, with an income of £54,000 needed to buy a typical family home comparing with an average wage of £18,300 in Brighton and Hove.

The business forum is compiling a database of vacant shops and will work with housing associations to look at converting them into flats.