A community centre inspired by one of Brighton's great rebel folk heroes is almost ready to open its doors.

The Cowley Club, in London Road, Brighton, will be named after chimney sweep Harry Cowley, who campaigned for the homeless and unemployed.

Volunteers have been decorating the club's base since buying the building nine months ago and it could be ready within a month.

They have promised the co-operative community centre will offer cheap, wholesome food during the day and a member's bar in the evening.

They also hope to run drop-in advice sessions, children's activities, community meetings and a local history archive.

A spokeswoman for the Cowley Club said: "Our aim is to provide a community resource space, inspired by Harry's approach to DIY social welfare.

"He had a self-help attitude towards the things he did, rather than relying on the state. The Cowley Club is being financed by volunteers, with no public funding."

Mr Cowley, affectionately known as The Guv'nor, was born in 1890 in Lincoln Street, Brighton.

He fought Oswald Moseley's fascists in the Thirties and formed the Brighton Vigilantes, part of the early squatters' movement.

Harry also campaigned for unemployed people to be given jobs and decent pay, distributed bread and milk and formed a group to help homeless ex-servicemen.

About 500 people packed into St Peter's Church in Brighton for his funeral in March 1971.

A biography of Mr Cowley is likely to be published later this year, after an appeal for photos and cuttings in The Argus last October.