Some publicans brand them eyesores which are destroying the spit and sawdust image of traditional watering holes.

But the owners of the town's new trendy bars claim they are only meeting demand. The noisy debate over the pros and cons of superpubs springing up around Brighton does not bother regulars at the Royal Sovereign in Preston Street.

For after much head-scratching, landlord Simon Eden reckons he has come up with the perfect solution - take both types of pub and put them under the same roof. Regulars can dress up in their best clothes and pose to their hearts' content in the Blue Bar before a night on the tiles, then the following night pop into the traditional bar next door for a drink with friends wearing scruffy jeans and trainers.

He said: "I like to think we are keeping everyone happy by having two completely different bars under the one roof. You see people coming in on Friday and Saturday nights into the Blue Bar on their way to a club, then pop in during the week to drink on the other side."

The Blue Bar, which was a storage room before Mr Eden took over the pub five years ago, is very much a modern-style hostelry. It features stripped wooden floors, metal furniture and a distinctive blue paint job. In addition to pints of bitter and lager, spirits from around the world are on offer and it is a sports-cum-cocktail-cum-pre-club bar.

The two bars are separated by two steps, which can be pulled up to allow both sets of drinkers privacy. Regular Billy Boyle, 46, who lives in Brighton, said: "You get different crowds in each bar on different nights and it's almost like having two different pubs in the same building. The music in the Blue Bar is quite different from the other side but everybody mixes and gets on which is nice."

Mr Eden, 35, said: "It's a shame when you see all these trendy bars and cafes springing up because soon there won't be any traditional pubs left any more.

Landlady Danielle Eden, 26, said: "Apart from the younger clientele, the majority of our drinkers are older generation and people who go for a drink before and after dinner. When the pub was bought the Blue Bar was basically a storage space. It was Simon's idea to make a great trendy cocktail bar which is what has been done."

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