An architect is taking part in a national campaign to raise awareness of hepatitis C.

A giant photo of Nimrod Ping will be among several portraits of people with the condition unveiled in Brighton on Friday.

The photos are part of the Department of Health's FaCe It campaign which was launched in London in March and is now touring cities across England.

Mr Ping, representatives from the Department of Health and medical experts will be on hand to offer advice and information about the condition on Friday at Churchill Square shopping centre, Brighton.

The exhibition will also be open on Saturday.

Former councillor Mr Ping was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1998 and is now working to help other sufferers cope with the illness.

He said: "If I can do anything that will help people not have to go through what I did then that has to be a good thing.

"If the information can be got out at an early stage, people will hopefully be careful and not get into situations where they may find themselves contracting the virus."

Mr Ping, from Brighton, runs a support group of his own called Hepcats which he started earlier this year.

He said: "Everyone is very cheerful and friendly and offers support . Some of the treatments can be difficult and it is good to have people around telling you that when it is all over you will be feeling a lot better.

"I have been through it all and am fighting fit now. There is still a stigma attached to it and we need to get away from that."

Mr Ping, 57, was a member of Brighton Borough Council until he resigned in 1998 after being diagnosed. He believes he may have contracted the condition while on holiday in the late Eighties but did not develop problems until about 1998. He would have periods of breathlessness, unconsciousness, sickness and become very thirsty.

A combination of drugs to control the illness did not work and in September 2003 his condition deteriorated.

His digestion suffered, he had shaky hands and pain throughout his body.

Things reached a crisis in January 2004 when he could not get up one morning and his skin had turned yellow.

He got better after treatment at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton but it took months for him to get his strength back.

Hepatitis C is a virus that can damage the liver and up to 200,000 people in England are estimated to be carriers.

It is usually spread by the transfer of blood from person-to-person, for example through the sharing of needles or syringes when injecting drugs. It can also be spread, less commonly, through unprotected sex or tattoos and body piercings where unsterile equipment is used.

For more details about the campaign and hepatitis C, go to www.hepc.nhs.uk or call the information line on 0800 451451.