Chinese Elvis appears to have left the building as the Memphis Bar sits empty a little over a year after it opened.

Handwritten signs in the windows of the novelty pub and restaurant in Apsley Street, Ashford, say the business has closed yet faded posters of The King are still visible inside.

Tang Ma, an Elvis Presley impersonator from Hong Kong, launched the business in March 2014 and sang songs by his hero every evening while diners tucked into Chinese food cooked by his wife Shirley.

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Mr Ma has performed as Elvis since he was a child in Asia, including at restaurants owned by family members in London and Tunbridge Wells.

He would dress in flamboyant jumpsuits and sunglasses and strut around the pub, belting out Elvis classics such as Heartbreak Hotel, Teddy Bear and Hound Dog.

But after a packed opening night, the bar, formerly popular music venue The Oranges, was often empty in the evenings and sometimes shut early.

Mr Ma could not be contacted for a comment this week but last year, when asked what he would say to anyone with Suspicious Minds about whether an Elvis-themed bar was right for Ashford, he told KentOnline: “I believe there are lots of Elvis fans in Ashford that will come.

“All ages like Elvis – if you do his songs, people will like it. It is not only rock and roll, his love songs are beautiful. Elvis never dies.”