Tory leader Michael Howard's tour of Brighton and Hove was interrupted yesterday by a phone call from his mum.

The leader of the opposition was discussing the 20th anniversary of the Brighton bomb when his mobile rang out and he trilled: "My mother!"

Mr Howard has nurtured a no-nonsense image as the austere politician who will lock up criminals and close the gates to illegal immigrants.

But for a moment the mask slipped and a very different side to the 63-year-old barrister-turned-politician emerged.

A determined voice could just be heard at the other end of the line before Mr Howard pleaded: "I don't have it with me at the moment. I'm very busy at the moment, Mother. I will have to talk to you later."

Hilda Howard, who was a dressmaker living in Wales when she met her future husband Bernard, has always had a close relationship with her son.

But whatever it was he neglected to bring to the Sussex coast remained shrouded in secrecy.

As soon as he had hung up, Mr Howard the political rapier returned and attempts to discuss the missing item were rebuffed.

The Tory leader was visiting Brighton and Hove to meet police officers, shopkeepers and community leaders and to discuss the vote-winning issue of crime.

He arrived at The Grenadier pub in Hangleton, where he was met by Dawn Barnett, the Conservative candidate for the forthcoming council by-election in Hangleton and Knoll.

Mr Howard also shook hands with police and community support officers.

During the 30-minute tour he met tradesmen who had suffered vandalism, shoplifting and intimidation by criminal gangs.

Mr Howard promised to fund "several hundred" extra officers for Sussex by savings made from toughening up asylum policies.

David Smart, leader of the Knoll Community Association, described how a Range Rover had been driven through the front of a local off-licence and several shop windows had been broken.

Mr Smart, 68, a retired policeman, said: "What we need up here is a permanent CCTV camera pointing at all the shops. East Brighton has millions to spend on CCTV but we get the scraps.

"And we never see any real police officers. We get a few community support officers who are dressed to look like police officers but they have no real power."

Grocer Garry Sanders, 47, said: "My front window was broken and the day it was refitted it was broken again. Every time it happens, my insurance premium goes up."

Nick Hollick, 32, owner of Stadium Motor Spares, told Mr Howard: "We never see any police up here now.

"We had a temporary CCTV camera for three months and it made a real difference but it went. We used to go out to meet customers but now we are afraid of leaving the store unattended. It has got worse, definitely."

The Conservative leader visited the Clock Tower in the centre of Brighton and added his voice to calls for the 24-hour officer stationed there to be reinstated.

He pledged his support to relatives of murdered Jane Longhurst in their campaign to shut down web sites showing violent pornography.

The Government yesterday released figures showing the number of antisocial behaviour orders (Asbos) issued in Brighton and Hove had doubled in the past five years.

Mr Howard said more should be done to enforce the orders and punish those who breached them.

He told The Argus: "Today I have learned even in what to all intents and purposes is a very pleasant and quiet place there are real problems caused by hooligans.

"Asbos can make a useful contribution to dealing with these problems.

"They were introduced with tremendous fanfare but only 2,500 have been introduced across the entire country. They are never going to solve all these problems. We have plans to recruit many more police officers. We're also going to reduce the burden of paperwork and the political correctness which stops them doing the job everyone wants them to do."

He criticised Home Office plans to bring in new forms which police officers will have to fill in when stopping people in the street.

The Conservatives must make major breakthroughs if they are to stand a chance in a future general election. Brighton and Hove will be a fiercely fought battleground.

Whatever Mr Howard left at home, he will have only himself to blame next spring if the lessons from the estates are forgotten.