More than 50 friends gathered at the funeral of a man who lay dead in his flat for up to two months.

Songs by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald were played at the service of Peter Kiff, a lover of theatre and jazz who had worked at pubs across Brighton.

Friends said towards the end of his life he cut himself off from the world.

Mr Kiff, 63, known as Frank, was discovered on January 3 in the second-floor flat in Gloucester Place, Brighton, where he had lived for six years.

Neighbours had complained about a smell and that their flats were infested with flies over the Christmas period. The last time they could remember seeing Mr Kiff was in October.

Police finally broke into the apartment and found his body. They believe he could have been dead up to two months.

Mr Kiff's funeral was held at Woodvale Crematorium today, followed by a wake at the Bow Street Runner pub in Brunswick Square, Hove.

Colleen and Chris Floate had travelled from Essex to attend the service. They used to work together and even shared holidays with Mr Kiff.

Mrs Floate, from Burnham-on-Crouch, said: "It was a brilliant, beautiful service. They played some of his favourite songs like Send In The Clowns and Witchcraft. He was very theatrical, a real giggler.

"He was a real character but he cut himself off from everyone in the end. He used to come on holiday with us and everything but we couldn't find him for ten years.

"We don't really know why, he just became a recluse."

Mr Kiff served in the RAF and married in his native Wales. After divorcing he moved to Sussex to start a new life more than 30 years ago.

He discovered he had a daughter by his ex-wife later in life but he rarely saw her.

He worked in bars and ran pubs across the city, among them the Prince Arthur in Western Road, the Regency Tavern in Regency Square and the Cricketers in Black Lion Street.

He also worked in the DeVere Grand Hotel in Kingsway, and the Eaton Gardens restaurant in Hove and later became landlord of the Victory Inn in Duke Street, and the Grosvenor Arms in Western Street, Hove.

Robbie Roberts, manager of the Bow Street Runner, who organised the funeral, said: "It went very well. We were quite surprised by the number of people who turned up but it was just a matter of getting in touch with everybody.

"We played the music he used to dance to down the pub, showbiz stuff like Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, and the vicar did a marvellous speech.

"Frank was a very happy-go-lucky man, always very smart. He more or less worked at all the pubs in Brighton. He loved entertaining people, which is why we found it so sad when he became a recluse.

"He didn't want to sponge from anybody so when his money ran out he just seemed to lock himself away."

Mr Kiff's body was so badly decomposed that a post-mortem could not establish how he died. An inquest into his death will be held at Brighton County Court on March 12.

Mr Floate said: "We never thought he'd end up the way he did. I'd like to think he had a heart attack suddenly and just collapsed without any pain."