WORLD famous DJ Fatboy Slim says his home city needs a big arena.

Fatboy, whose real name is Norman Cook, lives in Hove. He believes there is a “terrible lack of decent sized venues” in Brighton and that a large capacity venue is what is needed to attract top selling artists.

The biggest venue in Brighton at the moment is the Brighton Centre which has a capacity of between 4,500 and 5,000, depending on the event.

Other notable venues in the city include Brighton Dome, with a maximum capacity of 1,860, and the Theatre Royal, which has close to 1,000 seats.

The “Praise You” singer said the need for an arena struck him when he realised there was no Brighton date on his upcoming UK tour.

Speaking to The Argus about the issue, he said: “I think Brighton is missing a big arena, absolutely.

“We do need a bigger arena, because so many big tours just pass us by.

“It kind of brings it home when even my own tour passes by.

“It would be the catchment area of the whole of Sussex coming to shows because there’s nothing that big in the south, outside of London.”

The only venue in the south, outside of London, with a similar capacity is the BIC in Bournemouth which has a concert hall capacity of 4,100.

Norman said that the popularity of the venue would be more than worth the funding it would need.

But he did add that someone may have done it by now if it was really worthwhile.

He said: “It’s pure economics really for anyone who wants to build it or sponsor it.

“I’m sure if there was a big enough demand then some canny entrepreneur would have built it by now.”

However, Fatboy has added that more important than the arena is keeping music alive at grassroots level.

He said: “From my point of view it’s way more important to have smaller venues where up-and-coming bands can cut their teeth.

“For every arena that Adele plays there has to be the pubs and clubs that Adele came through.

“It needs to be more doable for councils to be more sympathetic for the venues that support live music.”

Norman was speaking to the press as part of a new venture which will see him end his UK tour with a show in the house of a fan.

In partnership with Deliveroo, the Deliverave will see one lucky winner get an intimate Fatboy Slim concert put on in their own living room.

Speaking about the event, Norman said: “My reward for playing some of the biggest shows of my life is getting to play potentially one of the smallest of my life.

“I’m more out of my comfort zone in an arena than I would be in someone’s living room.

“If they can hear me singing along with the tunes that adds an extra depth to it for me.”

Joe Groves of Deliveroo said: “We know we can deliver food, but delivering a rave is just out of this world.

“Fatboy Slim is a legend and we’re upping the food delivery game by partnering with him to allow our customers to eat, sleep, rave, repeat.”

Fatboy Slim’s UK Tour starts on February 21 in London and will visit Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Manchester.

He will end the tour by performing at the house of a fan in a special show which is scheduled to take place on March 7.