Furrier Lewis Stanley Dudkin, one of the longest-serving shopkeepers and businessmen in Brighton, has died aged 95 after a short illness.

Brighton-born, he was a well-known figure around the city and for 89 years lived in the same family house in Dyke Road.

Stanley drove a left-hand-drive American Chrysler and was never seen in anything other than a three-piece suit.

He was friends with all the leading businessmen in Brighton over the decades and contributed to archive recordings about his life in Brighton, speaking about his friendship with Magnus Volk, Harry Houdini and Stan Laurel.

He chronicled everything and these recollections will be preserved by his family as a historical record of the life of a businessman in Brighton in the 20th Century.

Stanley loved the arts and was a regular patron at the Theatre Royal, Glyndebourne and Chichester. He also loved the Brighton Festival.

In later years he attended the event with au pairs, who acted as housekeepers after the death of his wife, Rose, in 1972.

He was born in Upper North Street and moved to nearby Dyke Road when he was six. Stanley was keen on magic and as a youngster he said one of his ambitions was to become a conjuror.

After attending Brighton and Hove Grammar School he followed his father, Alfred, into the fur business, running fur shops in Brighton, Eastbourne,and Worthing, and also building up a portfolio of houses, which were rented out.

He had other business interests, including importing and selling cocktail sticks to restaurants, pubs and wine bars in Brighton.

His best-known fur shop, in the Regent Arcade, off East Street in Brighton, closed in 1984.

He retired from running the fur shops at the age of 80, when the anti-fur campaign was at its height.

He is survived by daughter Bettina and three grandchildren, who all live in East Hoathly.