Historian Judy Middleton is determined to finish her ambitious project even though she is only a fifth of the way through after ten years' work.

She has completed four volumes and 500 A4 size pages of her Encyclopedia of Hove and Portslade.

They reach to the end of the letter E, although her research yet to be published takes her up to L.

Judy, best known for her History of Hove, which was first published in 1979, has been hard at work since then, producing several other books about her home town.

They include volumes on schools, cinemas, the King Alfred leisure centre and the Brunswick estate.

She said: "I started to compile it in 1992 and anyone seeing it can appreciate how it took so long. I have been researching the subject since 1972."

Born in Hove, Judy has spent her life there and gained her interest in times gone by after joining a group researching the history of Portslade.

For many years, she has worked at Hove Library.

Facts in the volumes include when houses were built in most roads, biographies of people and details of schools, firms and buildings.

Her entries on the celebrities of Hove and Portslade are up to date.

Former boxer Chris Eubank's entry remarks how he was stuck in the Middle East before returning to Hove in January this year.

Also included is Steve Coogan, the entertainer, who has a detached house in Hove.

There is also an entry for actor Nick Berry, who bought a house in Western Esplanade for £500,000 in 1997.

Judy, who lives in Oak Gardens, Portslade, is delaying publication of the next tranche, which would take her up to the almost halfway mark of L.

She is waiting to see what happens to landlord Nicholas Hoogstraten, who is awaiting trial on a murder charge.

Judy said: "The trouble with a work such as this is that it has to be constantly updated."

The encyclopaedia is available only from City Books at 23 Western Road, Hove. Volumes 1, 3 and 4 cost £6.50. Volume 2, which is twice as big, costs £9.50.