ITALIAN suits, scooters and the sounds of the 1960s will rear their heads as Norfolk's mods descend upon a new shop.

Great Yarmouth-born David Hanton, 55, is opening the sub culture outlet MOD ONE in Magdalen Street, Norwich, today.

His late grandfather Arthur Starbuck had been in the scooter club when he worked at the Birdseye factory, and he says the mod tradition is still hugely popular in the east of England.

'There seems to be a resurgence locally,' said Mr Hanton. 'We know lots of people in the local scooter scene in Norwich and it's considered to be a very good idea to open this shop.

'Mods have got a bit of nostalgia and we're creating something quite special that you might expect to find in Carnaby Street in London.'

The shop is to sell scooter products and retro items, and will have an area for enthusiasts to meet.

Mr Hanton has vivid memories of discovering all things mod after watching the 1979 film Quadrophenia, and the sub culture is still finding new followers today.

'We're getting a threefold mix of mods,' he said. 'Some original mods from the 1960s, some people from the mod revival movement in the late 1970s and new blood coming in as well as it's quite a trendy look.

'Young people like the style and what the 1960s represent.'

He said his grandfather, who died in 1995 aged 84, was a scooter fan and that is where his own interest began.

'I suppose that's where the seeds were sown for my enthusiasm,' he said. 'I was at Great Yarmouth College of Art and Design in the 1970s when the film Quadrophenia came out. At that time people were mostly hippies or punks and then Quadrophenia came out and lots of people became interested in scooters.

'In the late 1970s it was that feel of going from hideous fashions like flares to Quadrophenia's sharp dressing.

'People were transformed from hippies into sharp, cool dressers.'

Mr Hanton will also be celebrating 25 years as an interior designer with his Line One business at the MOD ONE launch today.

There will be a DJ, food and drink at the launch from 7pm tonight.

Italian mod brand Tucano Urbano will be auctioning off a scooter jacket as part of a raffle to help seven-year-old Norwich girl Ella Kett.

Ella suffers from a very rare genetic condition called Cornelia de Lang syndrome and is now at Parkside school in Norwich.

Last year her mother raised money to attend the annual conference, which was in Denmark, and she was so overwhelmed with support that she had enough money to set up a fund for Ella.

There are very few cases of Cornelia de Lang syndrome in this world, and Ella is believed to be one of only five people in the country who suffers from the particular gene defect relating to the syndrome.

MOD ONE will be within the existing Line One shop at 153 Magdalen Street.