Everyone who moans about the imperfect condition of Brighton and Hove should saunter about 30 miles west and take a look at what is happening there.

I went to Bognor Regis in the height of the holiday season and it was closed.

All right, I am exaggerating, but it was astonishing to find that in August there were cafes and restaurants which were shut for the season.

On a sultry summer's day, it was extraordinarily quiet.

Despite the sunshine, there were only two other people on the section of the beach where I was sitting and the main activity in the resort centre was provided by a group of geriatrics on a day out from Hemel Hempstead.

This is a town which in the Fifties was one of the top resorts in Britain.

I remember it bustling and busy, even in bad weather, with shows at the Esplanade Theatre, in a marquee by the Steyne gardens and in the Esplanade Theatre.

Now the pier is a forlorn and broken structure which comes into its own once a year for the birdman rally and the theatre is no more.

I also went to Hastings, 40 miles east of Brighton, to find it in a sad and sorry state.

I keep hearing about the impending revival of this lovely old town but like Billy Bunter's postal order, it never seems to turn up. There is no sign of the promised marina and there are still gaps in the harbour wall.

The beach amusements and car parks are indescribably ugly and ill sited. It is hard even to cross the seafront road.

George Street has been pedestrianised for more than 15 years but it is still rather a mess. St Mary-in-the-Castle Church has been restored but when I was there, it was not possible to see inside and this at the peak time for tourists.

If Brighton is a resort said to be helping the police with its inquiries, Hastings is a town with learning difficulties.

Many of the people there looked like many of the buildings, semi-derelict and out of sorts. Even St Leonard's, supposedly the posher part of the place, looked unkempt and the main shopping centre was amazingly unappealing.

There are commercial criteria for judging the health of a resort. One is the number of visitors.

Bognor fails on this account and not too many of the people in Hastings looked like tourists. Another is the number of decent hotels, surprisingly few in either town.

The influx of chain stores and coffee shops is also a good yardstick.

People may say they impose a drab uniformity on towns which is true to an extent but they are a sign that big companies are prepared to invest.

They may not be welcome in thriving, handsome centres such as Bath where the alternative is high class individual shops and restaurants but they must be welcome in towns full of tat.

It's easy to apportion blame for what went wrong in these places over the last half century and they are not alone in their distress.

You have only to look at Margate in Kent or Ventnor on the Isle of Wight to find a similar decline but other seaside resorts have managed to move with the times, benefiting residents and visitors alike.

What's more important is how down at heel resorts are to get out of their mess.

I fancy increased national prosperity will do the trick and that some of the wealth will trickle down into the dingiest places.

If I was into property, I would unhesitatingly plump for Hastings where prices are low and the only way really is up.

Millions of pounds have been earmarked for Hastings and this investment will work if everyone in town from the council to the traders works in the same direction.

Bognor, smaller and not so poor, does not require cash help on the same scale but it does need a sense of purpose which appears to have been all too lacking in the past.

Both towns, full of good memories for anyone who recalls them in their prime, should be able to recapture much of their old pride.