Plans to reduce crime and unemployment in east Brighton have been unveiled.

A series of targets have been set by the New Deal for Communities (NDC) project in partnership with the Government and statutory agencies.

They include raising educational achievement in East Brighton and improving standards of health.

The strategy targets neighbourhood management and community safety.

It also includes plans to increase the number of people in full-time employment and the number of pupils who get five or more GCSE A to C grades.

The strategy aims to reduce crime and develop a new healthy living centre and neighbourhood management schemes.

The new East Brighton Public Service Agreement (PSA) will be formally signed up to by a dozen agencies on Wednesday at the Wellsbourne Centre, formally Whitehawk Infant School.

Agencies supporting the scheme include Sussex Police, two local health authorities, Brighton and Hove Council and the Government.

East Brighton NDC Partnership chairwoman Alison Ghani, said: "The PSA will highlight the targets we need to make real improvements to people's lives, bringing together all the agencies which are part of that process."

Council leader Lynette Gwyn-Jones said: "The council believes this new initiative will help us work more closely with other agencies locally, such as health and the police and especially in the local community.

"Not only will it help us to recognise and respond more effectively to the needs of the community in East Brighton, but working with NDC will also provide agencies with the support to help us achieve these shared targets."

Sussex Police aims to reduce total crime in the area by two per cent and increase the detection of all crimes by 26 per cent.

Inspector Paul Smith said the partnership had led to a change in the way Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb were policed.