One of the most notorious killers in Sussex history is being brought back to life this month.

John Haigh – better known as the “acid bath murderer” – is taking up residence in the wine cellar of the Old Ship Hotel in King’s Road Brighton as part of the Brighton Festival Fringe.

The play, In Conversation with an Acid Bath Murderer, was written by actor Nigel Fairs, whose ancestors crossed paths with Haigh, and who is taking on the lead role.

Haigh was hanged in 1949 after he was convicted of killing six people – although he claimed to have murdered three more.

He used his workshop in Leopold Road, Crawley, to dispose of some of the bodies in drums full of acid.

The killings were motivated by money, with Haigh taking over the homes and selling the possessions of his victims.

Mr Fairs’s great-grandfather was working at Lewes Prison at the time of Haigh’s trial and once put shackles on him.

His grandfather once rented the killer a car in Burgess Hill – a scene which made it into the play.

Mr Fairs, 47, was brought up in Brighton and Hove and went to Hove Grammar School before becoming an actor.

He ended up with an identical scar on his forehead to Haigh after a bicycle accident shortly before he took up the role.

Mr Fairs said: “It is a bit spooky.

“I had no idea there was a family connection. My parents told me after they had seen the play.”

The Old Ship is only a few hundred yards from the Metropole Hotel, where Haigh met some of his victims.

The play is being staged from Monday, May 16, to Saturday, May 28.

Tickets are available from the Brighton Festival Fringe website or from the Dome Box Office on 01273 709709.