A self-made millionaire dubbed the Lion Man is selling three of Brighton and Hove's most distinctive pubs for £800,000.

Flamboyant publican Dave Day, who is on a world cruise with wife Annette, is a well-known figure in the city and owns the Golden Lion Group.

Leases have been put up for sale for the Golden Lion Tavern in Manchester Street, Kemp Town, Brighton; the Ship Hotel in Hove Street, Hove; and Leo's Lounge in The Lanes, Brighton.

Together, the three pubs have an annual turnover of £1.2 million.

Mr Day, 54, who is called the Lion Man because of his long darkish-blond hair, can often be seen being chauffeured around in a Jaguar with the personalised number plate LION DD.

He has built a chain of 11 successful pubs, ten of which are in Brighton and Hove.

They are each fitted out with bright, loud decor and many have a lion theme.

The sale of the three pubs follow last summer's opening of Golden Lion's Ebony Room at Brighton Marina, a sumptuously-furnished bar, which cost £700,000 to fit out.

But the company insists the sale is nothing to do with the new bar, which is run by a separate company.

The sale is part of a "refocusing" of the pub chain and could even lead to bars opening in other areas of the city.

While Mr Day enjoys his break, the day-to-day running of the group is in the hands of his son, Leo, its operations manager.

He said: "We are refocusing our business and getting rid of the pubs that wereproving the most difficult to run.

"We may even move into other areas of the city as we are constantly looking round the market.

"There is no question of this having anything to do with the Ebony Room, which is doing very well.

"We have a successful group of pubs and none of the others are being put up for sale."

The Golden Lion Tavern, which was one of the first pubs Mr Day bought, and the Ship Inn are being sold for £175,000 each.

Leo's Lounge, a favourite haunt for clubbers, is on the market for £450,000.

The venue, in Meeting House Lane, has been fitted with leopard-skin carpets and has a small late-nightbar upstairs.

It is popular at night but less so during the day.

Other pubs in the Golden Lion Group include Hove Place in Hove; the historic Cricketers pub in Black Lion Street, Brighton; and the Colonnade Bar, next door to the Theatre Royal in New Road, Brighton.

The decision to sell the three pubs was made at the end of last year, just before Mr Day and his wife sailed off.