A publican has written to police and his local MP about a rising tide of crime, noise and rubbish in his street.

Simon Eden, landlord of the Royal Sovereign pub, in Preston Street, Brighton, has complained to MP David Lepper, Paul Whitehouse, chief constable of Sussex Police, and Roger Harper, principal traffic engineer, about levels of burglary, vandalism, rubbish, illegal parking and noise.

He said: "Graffiti is everywhere in the street. It is unsightly and sends out a very poor message to visiting tourists, on whose income we rely.

"Rubbish that amasses each night is not collected until after noon the following day and, since the introduction of the one-way system, every man and his dog has seen fit to park on the pavement and on double yellow lines.

"This again not only makes the street look ugly but also creates a serious hazard if there is no access for fire engines."

Mr Eden is also upset by the antisocial behaviour of people who arrive in the area around 1am to use the take-away shops.

He said: "When my wife has asked these people to be a little quieter, she has been met with violent abuse.

"We both find this most disturbing as these situations can soon become confrontational."

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "Since April there have been four burglaries in Preston Street and six thefts from restaurants, which is quite a low crime rate."

She said that Operation Toffee, on-going across the whole of Brighton town centre, is designed at tackling antisocial behaviour and vandalism and both police and traffic wardens regularly patrol the area."

Traders are meeting representatives from the police and Brighton and Hove Council next month to discuss the issues.