The two faces of St James's Street

Quirky boutiques and pubs nestle between big name stores. It is the kind of place which has helped give Brighton its Bohemian reputation.

Yet just hours later two men are assaulted here and seriously injured.

Two days later Home Office minister Lord Bassam calls for urgent action after witnessing drug addicts prepare for a fix outside the disabled toilets in Upper Rock Gardens.

Brighton and Hove Council has spent £500,000 on improvements to St James's Street including landscaping and traffic calming.

A new cafe, The Red Roaster, and a new pub, The Candy Bar, have just opened and the Seven Dials restaurant Tim Drum also has a new outlet there.

Substantial council grants are being offered to all Kemp Town businesses to improve their shop fronts.

Yet investors are cautious about moving into the area because of its high-profile problems.

Reports of traders in Upper St James's Street being threatened by vagrants are depressingly common.

Drug-related theft is rife and at night the dimly-lit street is becoming a no-go area because of street drinkers and random assaults.

One trader, who asked not to be identified, said: "I came here because Kemp Town is perceived as an up and coming area and I still believe it will be, but not until this whole mess is sorted out.

"The street seems to have become a social dumping ground and there has been no action from the police to address the problem. I worry about the safety of my staff going home at night.

"We need a massive police presence in the area and a high-profile campaign to round up the drug dealers and pushers."

Local councillor Jackie Lythell said new businesses would make the street busier and therefore safer.

She said since the St James's Street Area Action Group was set up in the Nineties, two of its three key objectives had been met by Brighton and Hove Council.

She said: "We carried out the traffic survey that people wanted and the environmental improvements are nearing completion. The street is looking much better and this is attracting new businesses.

"However the group's third priority was community safety and that one is still to be sorted out.

"The appalling attack at the weekend makes one despair but the more lively the street is the safer it will become."

Now the action group is liaising with Sussex Police and Lord Bassam in a bid to tackle crime.

Members want a crackdown on drug dealing, more bobbies on the beat and better street lighting.

Gavin Ritchie, the group's honorary minutes secretary, said: "At the moment, problems go from one end of the street to the other.

"Drug addicts living in the bushes are shunted up and down between Bedford Street and St George's Road, hunting for the gaps in the CCTV surveillance cameras."

Coun Lythell is leading a campaign for a bylaw banning street drinking in Upper and Lower St James's Street.

She said: "I am quite confident it will be supported by the community but we also have to look at what the knock-on effects in that area will be.

"We have got to look at the Old Steine and St George's Road and make sure that area isn't disadvantaged."

Inspector Paul Smith, whose sector includes St James's Street, said officers were working closely with the council and the action group to improve the area.

He said: "We are acutely aware of people's concerns about St James's Street and are working hard to make it safer.

"We are increasing our patrols in the area over the next few weekends in response to the increasing number of assaults in the last months, but we don't want to get this out of proportion.

"We are going to have a number of officers patrolling the street and surrounding areas to reassure the public and help catch offenders."