One of Brighton and Hove's first gay icons will finally be recognised by a blue plaque.

Campaigners have been battling for years to get the plaque commemorating Lord Alfred Douglas, known as Bosie, put on the house where he lived in Hove.

The son of the Marquis of Queensberry, Bosie is best known for his fling with Oscar Wilde, which led to the Irish-born author's miserable spell in Reading prison.

The scandal was one of the biggest in Victorian Britain and contributed to Wilde's early death in 1900, broken, impoverished, and alone in a Parisian hotel.

But many people feel Bosie has been hard done by and deserves to be recognised as a poet in his own right.

And after dozens of calls, letters and months of fund-raising, a plaque is to be erected at his former home at St Ann's Court, Nizells Avenue.

Student Adrian Cooper, from Kemp Town, Brighton, led the bid to raise the money needed after officials at Brighton and Hove City Council said it could not fund the venture.

The 30-year-old collected £300 through donations from all over the world and waded through mountains of bureaucracy to get permission for the ceramic plaque.

Contributions included a cheque from Lord Gawain Douglas, Bosie's great nephew, who has fought for years to have his ancestor's literary achievements recognised and who plans to travel from his home near Dover for the unveiling.

Mr Cooper said: "I hope this is the start of Bosie's recognition as a writer in his own right. He should not just be remembered for his brief relationship with Oscar Wilde.

"I hope people will be inspired to read his work, which ranks among some of the best poetry in the English language."

Bosie's writing included the poem Two Loves, which contains the famous phrase "The love that dare not speak its name".

The 15in plaque will bear the words: "Lord Alfred Douglas, 'Bosie', poet and writer, 1870-1945, lived here 1937-44".

Oxford-educated Bosie became known for his relationship with Wilde at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain.

Bosie's father did not approve and a court battle followed, with Wilde sentenced to two years in prison. The story was brought to the big screen in the 1998 film Wilde, starring Stephen Fry as Wilde and Jude Law as Bosie.

After the affair, Bosie married and turned to Roman Catholicism.

He moved to Hove with his mother after splitting from his wife. Lord Douglas said of his great uncle: "Bosie is known as a bad boy who destroyed Oscar Wilde.

"He was seen as perhaps a selfish upper-class person who was spoiled and arrogant. He had his faults and was a difficult man."

Lord Douglas said his own father, Bosie's nephew, saw Bosie's faults but lent him money to pay his rent.

He said: "The interesting thing about Bosie is the degree to which he changed as a human being, he became a changed man in later life.

"People are familiar with the Oscar Wilde story but Bosie's most important legacy is he was a considerable man of letters and an excellent poet. This has been overlooked and it has been felt it is important to be recognised."

The plaque will be unveiled on October 22 on the 134th anniversary of Bosie's birthday.

A book written by Bosie which describes Wilde as "one of the most powerful forces of evil that has happened in Europe for the last 300 years", will go under the hammer this month.

Bosie penned The Wilde Myth after his former lover's death but it was never printed because it was considered to libel Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, who was Home Secretary when the lovers' scandal broke and ordered Wilde's arrest.

The book is expected to fetch up to £50,000 at Sotheby's in London on October 29.