Landlord 'overwhelmed' by support after car crash

The owner of a Kent pub damaged when a car crashed into it has described the help he has received in rebuilding it as "totally amazing".

The Pilot Inn in Dungeness was hit by a vehicle in the early hours of 10 August.

The pub has been able to stay partially open but has been fully restored in time for the August bank holiday weekend.

A man has been charged with drink driving and driving while unfit and is due to appear in court next week.

Owner Niko Miaoulis said: "A huge thank you to all of our staff, customers, friends, family, that have helped, even just through good wishes in the past couple of weeks, it's totally amazing.

"I'm overwhelmed by the generosity and the goodness in people. Even this morning we ran out of varnish, and we went to the manufacturers in New Romney, they took us into the factory and gave us it for free."

He added that he initially feared for the future of the pub.

"We thought, 'oh my God, how are we ever going to fulfil the business that we need to?'.

"This is our busiest period to carry us through the winter. How can we possibly get this back up and running again? And we did, 10 days and it's back up and running."

Joiner and family friend Bradley Sullivan, from Folkestone, has been working on the restoration.

"We've been doing 16-hour days, and we've had to tie that in with the running of the restaurant, so it's been very tricky," he said.

"I've known the Miaoulis family for 30 years and I really felt for them because this is their passion. They've put so much effort into it, it was horrible to see what happened.

"There's a good community around here, we've had some great help."

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