There aren't many music fans who can claim to have had chart-topping band perform live in their front room.

But that is what happened to one group of friends when The Sugababes popped round for an impromptu gig.

The group is already lined up to perform at the Brighton Centre in March but Marcus Conrad was given a sneak preview after winning a competition he entered on his mobile phone.

It might not be the type of concert venue the girls are used to but the living room of the house in Round Hill Crescent, Brighton, was transformed into a music stage with equipment from microphones to amplifiers.

Their transfixed audience consisted of Marcus, 31, house owner Aylla, her two children, Arthur, 12, and Dominique, 14, and some of their friends.

The all-girl trio belted out three of their hits, plus their new single, during the performance on Wednesday.

Marcus said: "It was about this time last year when I entered and I saw a billboard which said to text a number to have the Sugababes play in your living room.

"I was in Windsor and wouldn't normally have entered but I was having breakfast in a cafe and saw the billboard opposite."

The gig was in a friend's house because Marcus is going to New Zealand for a year soon and has no permanent home.

Friend Aylla's children were the ideal audience, along with their mates.

"There were about 14 or 15 of us in the room and the girls sang live to a backing track. There wasn't really enough room for them to dance but there was a full sound system.

"They were really lovely, friendly girls - they didn't just come in, sing and get out again. I enjoyed it thoroughly."

Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Heidi Range thrilled the group with their intimate show, which featured chart-toppers Freak Like Me and former No. 1 Hole In The Head, from their latest album Three.

They stayed for an hour, posed for photos and signed CDs for their young fans.

Matt Griggs, 31, who was also at the show, said: "I couldn't believe they were so young themselves - just 18 or 19.

"We're all 30-odd - they were much closer in age to the kids. One of the kids sang a tune for them and they were quite impressed."

A spokeswoman for Universal Island Records said the group had now left the UK again.

Their next single, Too Lost In You, is out on December 15 and features in the Hugh Grant movie Love Actually.