HALF a century on from the Mods and Rockers’ running scuffles along Brighton beach, cult queer vintage club night Duckie is drawing up the battlelines again.

And in the case of this Pride one-off special a line will literally be drawn in the centre of the room to divide the two warring teen subcultures to either side of the room.

“May the best gang win,” says Duckie’s Simon Casson – a self-confessed Mod – who has enlisted Amy Lame as host and referee to ensure the battle is conducted in a fair and unbiased manner.

“We have got Mod and Rocker DJs, a Mod band and a Rocker band, and even a Mod dance outfit and a Rocker dance outfit. By the end of the night the audience will have to decide whether they are a Mod or a Rocker. “ The two tribes are being encouraged to come in appropriate gear, with a hairdresser on hand to provide fantasy hairdos, or supply elasticated Paul Weller fringes for folically challenged Mods.

“It’s like being straight or gay, you can’t mess around,” says Casson. “You have to be one thing or the other. There’s no standing on the line or sitting on the fence.

“When they get to the venue everyone will be given a badge saying Mod or Rocker – but at any point you can take your uniform off and hand over your badge to join the other side.

“We’re going to sort it out once and for all. I know which side of the room is going to smell the cleanest though...”

Artist Robin Whitmore will be recreating a life-size Brighton beach battle using cardboard cut-outs of guests pulling their best fight moves.

There will be a rev-in using pimped-up mobility scooters, and the butch London gang The Drakes will be heading down the M23 to pose for photos.

Providing the live music are Cornish greasers The Caezers, while former Britpop star David McAlmont will be introducing his new outfit Fingersnap for the Mods.

Doing battle on the dancefloor are Mod dance troupe The Actionettes against Brighton’s own rock chick Miss High Leg Kick.

And there will also be live performances by rockers The Two Wrongies, Black Elvis, a version of Mod classic My Generation by Piney Gir, and Lorraine Bowen singing a paen to Modernist heroine Julie Christie.

“The Mods and Rockers was about working class youth culture,” says Casson.

“It was the first time kids had some money and freedom. They could afford to buy motorbikes, clothes and pop records.

“The battles were about young men letting off steam – the way they do at the football today.

“What we are doing is embracing the energy and channelling it through choreography, hairdressing and cardboard cut-outs rather than actual fisticuffs.”

Duckie: Mods Versus Rockers, Brighton Dome, Corn Exchange, Church Street, Saturday, August 2