An articulated lorry will be top of the hit list for theatre-goers when it appears as the latest venue at an alternative arts festival.

The Theatre Truck will roll into Brighton for the Festival Fringe in May next year with a 30-seater venue inside the newly-refurbished vehicle.

Forty feet long, 12ft high and just 8ft wide, the Theatre Truck is the brainchild of Theatre Maketa founder Nick Kidd.

The venue first opened to the public last summer and since then has staged live theatre, film and performance art for audiences across the country.

It stopped at the Edinburgh Festival in 2004, arrived in Leicester Square in the heart of London for West End Live this summer and will travel to Ireland in the new year for the Cathedral Quarter Festival in Belfast.

Mr Kidd, 47, said: "It is like going into the Tardis.

"People see the truck and think there is no way you can fit a theatre in there and then they go in and realise how comfortable it is.

"This is an ideal way to get theatre to people and instead of audiences having to travel ten or 20 miles we can take the theatre to them."

Brighton and Hove City Council will have to approve the siting of the Theatre Truck during the festival fringe and among the proposed locations is Hove Esplanade.

Confirmation of the additional venue is one of several announcements from festival fringe organisers expected to boost audiences.

A new free weekly magazine, ThreeWeeks, will go out with features and reviews on every act in the fringe next year, while a map listing each venue will also be available to help visitors find their way around the city.

Brighton Marina will be home to The Brazil Nut and Garter mobile pub and cabaret tent for the first time in 2006, hosting comedy, theatre and DJs throughout the fringe.

The city's hotels have also added their name to the proceedings by taking part in the ArtHotel trail, displaying work in their lobbies from scores of different artists.

The new features for next year's festival fringe come just weeks after the company won independent status from Brighton Festival.

Any amateur or professional group or solo artist can register to take part in the fringe which remains unprogrammed, ensuring a variety of theatre, music, literature and performance art.

Fringe co-ordinator Holly Payton said: "The new venues, a magazine and the ArtHotel trail will make a huge difference to the fringe and it is offering more to the people of the city.

"Just being approached by companies only proves it is building in quality and rather than being stretched audiences will just be going out more often."

For details visit www.brightonfestivalfringe.org.uk