A village pub that closed has now gone to ruin and is crumbling into next door's garden.<br /><br />The once-renowned Lighthouse Inn village pub with views across the Channel used to host lavish opera nights but closed suddenly in 2019.<br /><br />Locals now look on the abandoned pub on the cliffs of Capel-le-Ferne near Folkestone, Kent, as an 'eyesore'.<br /><br />The building, constructed in the 1840s, is visibly crumbling since being left to the mercy of high winds blowing in from the sea. <br /><br />Fed-up local residents are now calling for the venue to be returned to its former glory. <br /><br />The business was renowned in the area for serving high-quality grub and also boasted hotel rooms. <br /><br />But it suddenly shut in 2019 after disputes with the owners of the building. <br /><br />Rachel Garrett, who has lived in the village for 20 years, said the Lighthouse used to be very family-friendly. <br /><br />She said: "It used to be a really nice place to go because it was a family place you could take your kids to and it had nice gardens you could sit in.<br /><br />“The previous owners had a Thai chef there and it was great because it was always somewhere nice you could go to where you would see the neighbours, socialise and have some really good food.<br /><br />“But then they upped their game and started doing things like opera evenings, which I am not sure was something the village wanted.”<br /><br />The 54-year-old added that were money not an issue, she would like to see the pub reborn as its former family-friendly self with holiday lets. <br /><br />“People always wanted to visit here as it is beautiful,” Ms Garrett added.<br /><br />“It is a real shame and I always thought we could have an internal gym with instructors who come to look after our ageing population, which I think would be a great facility.<br /><br />“It is an absolute eyesore and it needs some really good investment as our concern is it could be ripped down and turned into housing.<br /><br />"It's just gone to rack and ruin. It looks a right eyesore and it's deteriorated quite badly and has left all the villagers thinking, 'Well what's it going to be?'."<br /><br />The inn was split into two parts in 1840: the Vineyard Lodge, which was used as a wine and ale house, and Capel Lodge where travellers would rest, according to archives.<br /><br />Over the years it bore various names and was run as a home for psychiatric patients, a convalescing home and a country club.<br /><br />But in February 1998, it was refurbished and opened under the new name of The Lighthouse.<br /><br />Now, the site is in a sad state of affairs, with weeds overrunning the garden and car park, paintwork left untreated and signage removed from the building.<br /><br />A wall has even collapsed into a neighbouring garden and the entrance warns passersby to ‘keep out’.<br /><br />Martin Ingrouille, who has lived in the village for six years, says someone should be able to make a success of it as it is in such a 'prime spot'.
