A fire broke out in a Faversham pub earlier today, causing yet another disaster for owners who are still struggling to deal with the aftermath of December’s floods.

Firefighters tackled a blaze at the Shipwright’s Arms for more than an hour this morning after a chimney caught alight, filling the pub with smoke.

The pub in Hollowshore has been closed since the worst flooding in 60 years hit Faversham’s coastline in December and swamped the pub, trashing their belongings and causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Today, Landlord Derek Coles and his wife Ruth were hit with yet more bad luck when they noticed smoke billowing through the bar.

Derek said: “We have been burning the fire a lot more recently to dry out the place after the floods, but we had our chimney swept not that long ago, so we didn’t expect this.

“We were fixing up things down here, as we are every day at the moment, and suddenly we noticed smoke filling the room.

“It is just one thing after another for us at the moment."

The couple had just finished decorating the pub, after floods devastated the walls, floors and kitchen equipment late last year.

“We were just getting ready and starting to feel positive again. We’ve done all this decoration, and then this happens.

“It makes me wonder what we’ve done wrong. It seems never-ending.

“We are hoping to still reopen on January 18 but with our luck, we will probably get another disaster.”

Derek and Ruth will update their website when the pub fully reopens.

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