Don't delay on take-off

Shoreham Airport is one of the

oldest in the country, and it's also one of the most underused.

Although it's doing well for leisure and business flying, there have never been many commercial or scheduled flights from Shoreham to other

airports in the UK or mainland Europe.

Yet there's no reason why

Shoreham couldn't do this. It would take the pressure off Gatwick and it would be handy for several hundred thousand people living in the Brighton and Worthing areas.

This has been recognised by deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who wants to see regional airports, including Shoreham, used more than at present.

There are bound to be protests from people in Shoreham and Lancing if there's any expansion of services at Shoreham. There always are.

But the airport was there long before any of them, and the modern generation of planes using city

airports is quiet and efficient.

It's a new prospect for an old

airport and it's one that should be welcomed.

Right decision

Councillors were right to reject plans for a nightclub for 2,000 people as part of the Aquarium Terraces redevelopment in Brighton.

A small nightclub, already approved by Brighton and Hove Council, was fine in a development which will be of overall benefit to this part of town.

But expanding it to make it the biggest club in Brighton is not on - especially when it would be close to hundreds of homes.

Councillors will need all the

backing they can get from the

residents to pursue their case

successfully at the forthcoming

public inquiry.

Big hit potential

Former Shoreham heavyweight boxer Scott Welch has a new sparring partner in movie star Brad Pitt.

Scott's been chosen to fight with one of the screen world's hottest properties in Brad's latest film.

Let's hope Brad's not as good a boxer as he is a box office success. Otherwise it'll be the Hollywood hunk looking down on the horizontal heavyweight.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.