Church leaders were today meeting to discuss a controversial report which could lead to the closure of more than a dozen churches in Brighton and Hove.

Members of the Church of England have spent more than two years drawing up a strategy to take the church into the 21st Century.

Under the chairmanship of former Brighton and Hove City Council chief executive Glynn Jones, they have been touring the city, examining buildings where congregations have dwindled.

These are believed to include the landmark St Peter's Church in York Place, just north of Old Steine, and All Saints Church in Eaton Road, Hove.

They could be closed or turned over to other uses.

The report will be presented to the Bishop of Chichester, the Right Reverend John Hind, at the meeting, which will also be attended by clergy, readers, churchwardens and other parish representatives.

It will mark the start of a lengthy consultation process. Before a church can be closed or substantially redeveloped the proposal must go through a complicated set of democratic procedures.

Next week there will be meetings of Deanery Synods, at which the suggestions will be explained in more detail.

Congregations in Brighton and Hove are ageing, with more than 60 per cent of worshippers being over 65.

St Peter's, an early work by Houses of Parliament architect Charles Barry, needs repairs totalling £2 million, yet some of its main services attract fewer than 100 people.