Traders today appealed to the public for help in making this Christmas one to remember.

Goodies worth £100 will be the reward for whoever comes up with the most original way shop owners can afford of decorating the North Laine, Brighton, area.

A big display of Christmas lights in the North Laine would cost about £30,000 and traders say they cannot raise that much.

Even to string up tinsel throughout the shopping district, which shop owners have pledged to do, will cost about £5,000.

The North Laine Traders' Association is hoping the people of Brighton and Hove can solve their Christmas crisis.

Association secretary Peter Stocker said: "We are all small traders here with high rents and rates and we simply don't have that kind of spare money.

"Can the public come up with something a bit quirky, a bit different, that we can afford?

"We want it to be something people will remember.

"The North Laine belongs to everyone in the city, not just the people that work and live here, and we would love to hear everyone's ideas on what they would like to see here over Christmas.

"As long as it is safe and it doesn't cost too much money, we will consider anything."

The prize will include goods such as theatre tickets and restaurant and shopping vouchers.

The Argus is spearheading a drive to put the sparkle back into Brighton and Hove this Christmas.

We have secured a huge Christmas tree from Garden Pride in Common Lane, Ditchling, which will be put up in Victoria Gardens.

We are also collecting pledges from traders with ideas of how they can support the campaign pinned to a cardboard Christmas tree displayed in our Dyke Road office in central Brighton.

Brighton and Hove has long had a problem with Christmas lights and last year the city was shamed when it was voted by Radio 5 Live listeners as having the worst decorations in the country.

The North Laine competition, a fund-raising drive by The Lanes Business Network, and our campaign all aim to change Brighton and Hove's reputation this year.

The city centre will also get a boost from Lottery funding.

Thanks to a grant from the national Urban Cultural Fund, Brighton and Hove Arts Commission is spending £1 million on city arts projects.

One of five public art commissions chosen to share £100,000 of the money is a series of illuminated structures through the city centre at Christmas.

The artworks will be created through workshop programmes with artists and community groups and will include a major centrepiece sculpture.

Anybody with an idea for the North Laine should contact Mr Stocker on 01273 601641, or call into his shop, The Workshop Pottery, in Trafalgar Street.