Brighton's first lap dancing club will open next month after magistrates granted its licence.

The Top Totty Club will be above the Oasis sauna in Grand Parade. It will be owned and run by the team which operates Pussycats lap dancing club in Church Road, Hove.

The venture will create about 50 jobs.

Boss Keith McGrath will spend about £250,000 on the club, as well as recruiting 30 dancers, plus bar staff.

He has promised all the jobs will go to local people.

He said: This is not going to be Pussycats Two, it will be an entirely different club with its own feel.

"It will have a brighter art deco atmosphere and will be much bigger, with a capacity of about 150.

"There have been a number of applications in the past to open a lap dancing club in Brighton but they have all been refused.

"We have shown with Pussycats that we are able to operate a successful business without impacting on the local community.

"I believe the experience we have as a result of that persuaded the magistrates we were the right people to run a similar venue in Brighton."

Pussycats faced fierce opposition when it opened six years ago from residents who feared it would attract the wrong type of people to the area.

The club agreed to meet strict conditions to stop neighbours being disturbed by customers late at night.

Mr McGrath said the new premises would be refurbished over the next four weeks to provide pole-dancing stages on two levels.

He said the club, scheduled to open on May 8, would be advertising for staff.

A bright yellow banner advertising the club can already be seen in the windows of the upper floors of the Grand Parade building.

It was formerly Chambers, a private members' club, which closed recently.