Property prices are too high for many manufacturing firms to afford, says Hugh Thomas, an expert in regeneration.

Mr Thomas told Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce that they could not afford to pay sums such as £400,000 for half an acre of land and said: "Property prices are a problem."

But he added that a mixture of light industry and offices might be able to afford prices satisfactory to developers.

Mr Thomas, business parks co-ordinator for Sussex Enterprise, said 20 years ago there was large-scale manufacturing at Hollingbury, the biggest industrial estate in Brighton.

Now only five of the 26 companies there were manufacturers. The rest were wholesalers or retailers.

He said Asda had a supermarket on the site of the former STC factory. It meant fewer people were employed there and wages were on the whole lower.

Mr Thomas said some companies were still leaving Brighton and Hove for other towns and cities.

But he added that a renovation programme of estates in the city was making them more attractive. Results had been encouraging from the first completed job at Bevendean.

Mr Thomas said he still believed Brighton and Hove had a lot going for it and the location was particularly attractive.

He added: "Small businesses on short-term leases may be part of the answer."