An innovative approach to making sure Brighton's buses run on time has paid the price of its own success.

An award-winning satellite technology system which keeps constant track of Brighton and Hove buses has won envious glances from across the country.

But while other areas copying the idea are winning government backing, Brighton's £1.5m scheme had to pay for itself.

Mike Best, of Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, said: "We were ahead of the game, the first area to set this up.

"Now several other local authorities have got tenders out for similar schemes, with government funding available. Unfortunately Brighton missed out on that, by building it up first."

But the outlay, split between the city council and the bus company, is considered money well-spent.

The council has installed display screens at bus stops, showing passengers the number of minutes until the next arrival.

Almost all of the bus company's vehicles now have computers on-board tracking each one's progress.

Any delays are instantly picked up by control room operators.

Each bus appears as an icon on a map - green if it is on time, yellow if running late.

The controllers can send out extra buses, or at least explain to passengers at the stops how long they will have to wait.

Drivers are shown the name of the next stop and how early or late they are running.

That information is then relayed by radio to information screens at the bus stops ahead.

The screens were particularly useful during traffic congestion caused by a bomb scare in Gloucester Place, Brighton, last Monday.

Mr Best, who runs the scheme for the bus firm, said: "You're never going to be completely free from traffic jams and delays. But it makes a difference if people at least know how long they'll be standing waiting.

"Whenever the screens are turned off for routine maintenance, our man in Churchill Square gets swamped with people asking what has happened to the signs."

The display screens won a National Transport Award in May from the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT).

Roger French, managing director of the bus company, said: "It is good to see once again Brighton and Hove is leading the way.

"But the real success story is that bus passenger numbers rose by eight per cent last year."

Councillor Simon Battle, deputy chair of the city's environment committee, said: "It is wonderful to win awards but more important to ease congestion and get the traffic moving.

"This is only the beginning of a rolling programme that will see more and more screens added city-wide at bus stops over the next few years."

The council is providing about 60 new on-street display screens this year. And East Sussex County Council is working with Brighton and Hove buses to install eight screens along the route from Peacehaven to Seaford.

The tracking system is being installed in all of the bus firm's 220 buses, with 170 done so far.

And the scheme has not just proved helpful in tackling congestion. It also meant bus company staff could follow the progress of a joyrider who stole a bus from the depot in Conway Street, Hove, in May.

They gave police a running commentary on the bus' position, before it was abandoned in Wilbury Road, Hove.

But one disappointment has been radio link-ups between buses and the control rooms.

Drivers have complained any conversations are virtually unintelligible.

The bus firm is negotiating with Siemens about providing better-quality radio systems.