A battle of the bartenders will go ahead tonight without its star host, comedian Mark Little, after a major falling out with venue bosses.

Mark was dropped by Komedia in Brighton after losing his temper with hecklers last week and has vowed never to return.

Komedia spokeswoman Alice Hartmann said: "As a result of what happened last week, Mark will not be hosting the Battle of the Bars event tonight.

"I would not say we have banned him, I think we came to a mutual agreement but certainly he will not be hosting his Boogie Woogie Beach Bum Bars here again."

But Mark's agent Chris Davis said his client was "not upset" by Komedia's decision to drop him from the Battle of the Bars contest and said the move made the theatre look "ludicrous".

Mr Davis refuted Komedia's claims a mutual agreement had been reached and said a letter had been sent to Little, effectively banning him from the venue.

The Australian comic rounded on hecklers after they criticised performance poet Chris Tuppenden at one of his popular Boogie Woogie Beach Bum Bars last Thursday.

Speaking after the incident, Little said: "I don't regret what I did. There was a bit of anger but nobody got hurt.

"Most of the audience were drunk and got angry with Curtis but couldn't take it when it came back at them.

"Komedia gave me no support. Certain people in the audience should have been evicted earlier but weren't. I thought Brighton and Hove was the place you could experiment with new things but I was wrong."

The contest - one of the highlights of the Brighton Food and Drink Lovers' Festival - will pit cocktail bars against each other to determine which is the best in Brighton. It was due to presided over by the former Neighbours star.

Instead, another comedy act, the self-styled Queen of Country Tina C, who received rave reviews at the Edinburgh Festival, will compre proceedings.

Bar tenders will show off their skills with a cocktail shaker and be judged by some of Brighton's most recognisable social butterflies, including actress Michelle Collins.

DJ's from Brighton's legendary Stick It On will be providing the tunes, while revellers plough through a range of booze.

The battle takes place at Komedia in Gardner Street, Brighton from 7.30pm onwards. Admission is £7.50