50 jobs will be created after a superpub was given the go-ahead at Brighton Marina.

Run by JD Wetherspoon, the fastest-expanding pub chain, it will be part of the transformation of the marina which includes a £50 million development of new buildings and towers.

Lewes magistrates on Thursday gave JD Wetherspoon a licence to open one of its Lloyds No 1 bars at the new Waterfront Development.

The Lloyds bars are unlike other pubs in the Wetherspoon chain as they have background music playing.

The new pub will be called the Watermark and will take up two units and two floors of the Waterfront.

Costing £1.5 million to fit out, the Watermark will take up 6,000sqft, making it almost twice as big as the other Brighton Wetherspoon pub in West Street.

Managers are recruiting 50 full and part-time bar and restaurant staff for the pub, which is scheduled to open before the end of the summer.

Work will start in the next few weeks on fitting out Brighton's newest and biggest bar.

The marina is set to see another smart pub open before the new Wetherspoon opens its doors.

The Golden Lion Group, run by flamboyant Brighton businessman Dave Day, is set to open its Piano Bar in the same Waterfront Development next month.

Both pubs will be open for normal pub opening times with food served throughout the day.

Tim Martin, chairman of the Wetherspoon chain, said: "We are committed to the new city of Brighton and Hove. Our two existing pubs in the city, Wetherspoon's, West Street, and The Cliftonville Inn, George Street, Hove, have both done well.

"We believe our Lloyds No 1 bar concept is right for Brighton Marina, which is at last living up to its full potential."

The Wetherspoon chain was started by Mr Martin when he worked in the City of London. He started his own pub because he could not find pubs which sold a good variety of beer at reasonable prices and food throughout the day and did not blast out music.

Multi-millionaire Mr Martin now heads the chain which has 640 pubs across the UK and 30 Lloyds No 1 bars. He named the chain JD Wetherspoon after a teacher at school who told him he would never make a success of life.