THIS is the first photograph to be published of the 78-year-old knocked down and killed in the street on Tuesday by a driver fleeing police.

The victim of the tragic hit-and-run in Old Steine, whom The Argus can today exclusively name as Janos Sasvari, died when a Vauxhall Astra hit him as he crossed the road near St James's Street.

Two men were arrested on Wednesday after handing themselves in and yesterday were released on bail.

Moving tributes to Mr Sasvari, known to his friends as Jonny or Hungarian John, have continued to pour in, especially from the Greek Cypriot family he worked for through most of his years in Brighton.

Loukia Stylianou, 70, told The Argus: “He was such a nice man, it’s so sad. He didn’t have any family in England, he had lost touch with them over the years.

“He didn’t really have anyone over here but he was always so friendly with us.”

Mr Sasvari told friends he had come to England in 1958 as an 18-year-old, fleeing his native Hungary where just two years earlier Soviet tanks had crushed a liberal uprising.

In the 1970s he worked at the Churchill Steakhouse in Preston Street, and later as both a porter at The Atlantic Hotel on the seafront and as a kitchen porter in the Mermaids fish and chip shop on Western Road.

Koulla Pastouna, who owned The Atlantic when he worked there, said: “I knew Jonny for 30 years. He was a very nice person, totally trustworthy.

“He worked as our night porter, like a night watchman, in our hotel for about 25 years and we always relied on him.

“I know he had a sister in Hungary, we offered to help him go back to meet his family but he was scared to go there after such a long time. He was young when he left and he didn’t believe the Government there had changed. He didn't even have a passport.”

"I will make a prayer in our church on Sunday, he was Catholic and we are Orthodox but it doesn't matter. We will ask the priest to say a prayer for him."

"He was like our family. He spent Christmases with us, and he was there at my son’s Christening.”

Lak Estavrou, owner of Bella Restaurant on St James's Street where Mr Sasvari was a regular, said: “He was lovely man.

“He was very quiet. A big gambler on the horses, but never a drinker, I don’t think he ever went to the pub. It’s so sad.”