A gay nightclub has been put up for sale because there are not enough lesbians going clubbing to keep it in business.

Brighton's Candy Bar, the city's first full-time lesbian nightclub, opened in 2000.

But despite gaining a core of supportive regulars and an international reputation, owner Kim Lucas said the St James's Street club was not making enough money to stay afloat for seven nights a week.

Ms Lucas, who intends to keep running her original Candy Bar in London, which she opened in 1997, said although there were a lot of lesbians in Brighton there were not enough who wanted to go out regularly.

She said: "There is not enough of a lesbian scene in Brighton to make it a successful business. It's been great fun but I'm not covering my costs.

"It's a different kind of market.

Lesbians don't always want to go to nightclubs. A lot of lesbians are older and more settled. They come to Brighton to settle down and have babies and dogs and are not really into coming to bars and clubs generally."

Ms Lucas, who lives in London, said the club's initial policy of refusing entry to men unless they were with women may have contributed to its decline.

She said: "When we first came to Brighton we were putting the message across that if you were a man you needed to come with a woman.

"Then we changed our door policy so anyone could come but our message had been too strong and our no-men policy had put people off."

After an unsuccessful summer, the club fought for and won permission to extend its opening hours until 3am at the weekend in a last-ditch attempt to increase takings. But even that was not enough to bring the club into profit.

Ms Lucas, who is still seeking a buyer, said she expected the club to reopen as a mixed gay club under a different name.

She said: "Whoever buys it will hopefully add to the business but change its name and get a new profile. I'll be working with the new owner to keep the best nights going and hopefully the girls will still have their favourite nights, like karaoke."

If her predictions are right, the new club would join other mixed gay venues in Kemp Town like Envy and Revenge, whose customers are predominantly gay men.

Gabbie Cohen, the assistant manager of the lesbian Marlborough pub in Princes Street, said her pub was successful because it could rely on the patronage of theatre goers and students as well as gay women.

Ms Lucas said she was sad to let go of the Candy Bar but was proud of its contribution to the gay scene in Brighton.