Tributes have been paid “Mr Sussex Day” following his death.

Ian Steedman, 74, known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of Brighton and Sussex and love of the county, died on Monday, February 6.

Ian, who lived in Worthing, grew up in Hollingbury and helped to reinstate Sussex Day celebrations.

His widow Ruth said: “Ian was always up to some caper or other. He was Sussex mad and loved Brighton and Hove.

“Recently he wanted Worthing to be made a city, it meant everything to him. He loved Sussex Day, he did everything he could to promote it.

“He is a big loss, but I will remember him on his iPad writing to The Argus and poking his nose in everyone’s affairs.”

Ian, who regularly wrote letters to The Argus, grew up in Brighton and spent most of his life in Sussex. He met Ruth, his wife of 47 years, when he bought records from the shop where she worked.

Ian was described as having an adventurous spirit, with the couple travelling across the world from Hong Kong to Hawaii.

Ruth, 82, recalled once suggesting going to Shropshire on holiday, while Ian instead suggested Moscow and St Petersburg, then called Leningrad.

Christine Luffman, Ian’s friend who lived in Rotherfield Crescent where he grew up, met Ian through writing letters to The Argus.

She said: “He knew a lot about Brighton because he was really, really interested in it.

“He got Sussex Day reinstated because it got forgotten over the years. We were such good friends.”

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Jeanette Heston, Ian’s younger sister, said: “He died in Brighton and he always wanted to move back to Rotherfield Crescent.”

Jeanette, 66, added: “Sussex meant the world to him. He was a conductor for the Brighton Bus corporation and he wanted to get his name on a bus.

“One of his biggest interests was the redevelopment of the Hippodrome and he hoped to one day see the Hippodrome fully restored to its full glory.”

Ian is survived by Ruth and siblings Graham, Jeanette, Denise, Nicola and Bobbie. He also has two children from his first marriage, Vanessa and Nicholas, and two grandchildren, Holly and Chloe.