Only Fools and Horses writer John Sullivan to be honoured with blue plaque in Hove

John, who died in 2011, was one of the original owners of a flat in Prince of Wales Court, Hove, and wrote many episodes of the legendary sitcom there.

The plaque will be unveiled next week by John’s wife Sharon and actress Sue Holderness, who played Marlene in Only Fools and Horses, will give a short speech about John.

The idea to install a plaque originally came from John’s neighbour Joni van Oortmarssen and has been arranged with the Brighton and Hove Heritage Commission.

Joni and fellow organisers Pat Fortin and Liz Pile raised £1,500 to cover the cost of the plaque’s installation.

Sharon Sullivan said: “John, the family and I always enjoyed our long weekends in Hove. Although it was his 'winding down' place, John still loved to write there.

“We would like to thank our lovely neighbours for arranging this plaque in John's memory. We are all so proud of him and miss him every day.”

Pat Fortin said: “We know that John loved living here by the sea, and we thought a blue plaque was a lovely way for fans to say thank you for all those wonderful characters he created, who gave us all so many laughs over the years.”

In addition to writing Only Fools and Horses, John Sullivan also created and wrote Citizen Smith, Just Good Friends, Sitting Pretty, Over Here, Heartburn Hotel, Micawber, The Green Green Grass and Rock and Chips. In 2005 John received an OBE for services to drama.

Born in Balham, south London in 1946, he left school at 15 with no qualifications and worked as a messenger, car cleaner, delivery driver, plumber’s mate and second-hand car trader, before getting a job as a sceneshifter at the BBC.

Inspired by the work of Charles Dickens, John spent his evenings writing scripts and while working at the BBC he met Ronnie Barker, who asked him to write sketches for The Two Ronnies, and producer Dennis Main Wilson, who commissioned him to write Citizen Smith.

The plaque unveiling ceremony will take place at noon on Thursday November 10th.