Club Revenge, Brighton's original gay nightclub, marks its tenth anniversary this month.

So many stars have visited in the past decade that regulars are quite blas about seeing a well-known face - although Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker did set tongues wagging when he visited.

Owner Tony Chapman said: "We do get a lot of celebrities, gay and straight, probably because they get less hassle at Revenge than they would at a straight club.

"Jarvis did cause a bit of interest though, I think a few people wondered if he was gay."

Tony was an established Brighton businessman when he visited a club called Savannah in 1991 and saw its potential as a gay club.

He had just sold his shares in the Beacon Royal Hotel in Oriental Street to his former partner after their relationship went wrong and ploughed the proceeds into the club.

It also gave him a name - Club Revenge.

Tony spent £300,000 refurbishing the premises, which had previously been a student dive.

He said: "It was quite a risk putting that much money in. A full-time gay club had never worked in Brighton. Other people had tried and failed. People were giving me three months.

"In the past I think the difference was it had been straight people doing gay clubs and they didn't know what the gay community wanted."

The impact of Revenge on Brighton was immediate. Its size and reputation increased rapidly.

Tony said: "The gay village doubled in size almost overnight once we opened. Where you have a popular club you automatically get feeder bars opening up.

"A decade ago there were four gay bars in the village, now there are 16."

"Revenge is known nationwide and that brings in new businesses."

Initially the club was fairly low key, it was hidden behind closed doors with a tiny sign outside, reflecting how the gay scene was still an underground movement.

However, Revenge's profile continued to grow until it started attracting gay clubbers from across Europe, America and Australia. Regular customers come from Oxford, Bristol and London.

In 1996, Tony decided to have the club completely redesigned.

Brighton firm Morrison and Eaglen Design were responsible for the refit, which included the installation of a unique air jet wall that blows cold air through holes in the wall to cool down clubbers.

The last part of the club's coming out took the longest. In June 2001, the council finally granted the club permission to put up a more prominent sign outside the club.

Revenge has won several awards for best UK gay club and left straight clubs in the shade when it won best club in Brighton.

More than £1.5 million has been spent on the club in the past decade, ensuring it has top quality lighting and sound system.

The club has an eclectic music and entertainment policy, which includes everything from strippers, pop acts and drag artists.

Tony said: "Because we are an all-gay club we have to cater for everyone from 18 to 80.

"The two floors meant we could have more trendy music on one floor and handbaggy stuff on the other.

"We carry out market research to make sure we are giving people what they want and if a night starts to slip we change it. As it is we have to turn away a few hundred people every Saturday night."

Stars who have graced the club include members of Boyzone and the Pet Shop Boys, while EastEnders Barbara Windsor and June Brown are both regulars.

Other people who have visited or performed there include Martine McCutcheon, Denise Van Outen, Sue Pollard, Eartha Kitt, Michael Barrymore, Dale Winton and Julian Clary.

The club is a major fund-raiser in the town. since opening, it has collected more than £160,000 for charities, mostly through benefit nights. Benefactors have included The Argus Appeal, Brighton Cares, St John Ambulance, Brighton Gay Switchboard and Sussex Beacon.

The club is holding two birthday nights to celebrate its decade at the centre of Britain's gay clubbing scene.

To celebrate its early years, Tony has invited one of the biggest heartthrobs of the early Nineties to make a guest appearance - Jason Donovan.

The former Neighbours star went on to become a successful pop artist before his career took a nosedive as result of drug taking and a decision to sue a national style magazine for wrongly describing him as gay.

Despite this, he has become a gay icon and regularly performs on the gay cabaret circuit.

His guest appearance on Wednesday will be followed on Thursday with performances by two chart bands, Blue (All Rise), who have been described as Britain's answer to American R'n'B band N' Sync, and Supersister (Coffee).