The show must go on was the defiant message from Brighton's Punch and Judy man after fire wrecked his puppets.

Mike Stone, whose stage name is Sergeant Stone, said: "Earlier this month the ghost train on the Palace Pier went up in flames and now another seaside attraction has been consumed.

"But, like the pier, I'll be back."

Flames tore through Mr Stone's second-floor flat in Lewes Road, Brighton, on Monday, February 17.

Mr Stone, who has been performing his traditional seaside act on Brighton seafront for almost 30 years, was away at the time and returned to find his puppets blackened and charred.

The cause of the blaze is thought to be an electrical fault in the kitchen.

A passing fire alarm expert and an estate agent working on the ground floor tried to put out the flames but were beaten back by thick smoke.

Mr Stone praised their efforts and said his stage equipment had survived.

He said: "I was devastated but I'm not throwing in the towel.

"The puppets need a lot of TLC, a lick of paint and some dry cleaning but I hope to be up and running again in time for Easter."

Mr Stone, 45, is renowned for his Brighton seafront performances and is believed to be the longest-serving Punch and Judy man in Britain.

He performed to audiences of thousands when he opened the largest puppet museum in the United States at the Detroit Institute of Arts, in Michigan.

He also performed for one of America's richest men, capital management guru Richard Driehaus.

Mr Stone said: "The Americans were absolutely mesmerised by the show."

He said although Punch was performed all over the world, the British had the definitive version.

He was grief-stricken by the fire but said: "There's just too much history to quit now."