A derelict store at a shopping centre will be transformed into a “premium neighbourhood diner” paying homage to a cult vampire film.

The Santa Carla is set to open this summer in The Centre, Margate, filling the unit vacated by pet store Penfold H2O, which shut late in 2023.

Led by Pete Clucas, the restaurant will pay tribute to 1987 film The Lost Boys - a vampire movie that has become a cult classic.

He told KentOnline the diner’s name came from the fictional town in the film, which he says reminds him of Margate - a place he “fell in love with straight away”.

Mr Clucas, who also runs the vampire-themed Lost Souls Pizza in Camden, said: “Lost Souls had a fire two years ago, and I started spending time [in Margate] with my partner, who is from here.

“The main locations in Lost Boys are the boardwalk, the comic store, the video store and the sunken vampire lair, so the bar and diner here will trade under the name Santa Carla and exist in the same universe as Lost Souls Pizza, but with more of a beach/boardwalk feel.

“There are plenty of amazing pizza spots in Margate, so we won’t be doing pizza; we will lean on elevated diner food and fun, visual cocktails.”

At the heart of the venue will be a marble cocktail bar recycled from a pub in Peckham.

A self-confessed hoarder, Mr Clucas says everything in Santa Carla will be “borrowed, reclaimed or brought back to life”.

The Lost Boys was released in 1987 and follows two teenage brothers who move with their divorced mother to the fictional town of Santa Carla, California, only to discover that the town is a haven for vampires.

Mr Clucas’s interest in comics and films started from childhood where he grew up in the back of a video store in Liverpool in the 1980s, before moving to London at 17 to train as a visual effects artist.

He says his venues always carry a piece of that with them, with Lost Souls Pizza renowned for its nostalgic feel.

TDC has granted Santa Carla permission to open until 12.30am from Monday to Friday and until 1am at the weekend and on bank holidays.