Concerned council officials are in talks with land owners after a former pub on the outskirts of Herne Bay became a “fly-tippers’ paradise”.

Mounds of rubbish have been left outside the abandoned Share and Coulter pub in Owls Hatch Road, including bricks, rubble and even an abandoned van.

Anxious residents fear the building, which was sold by Shepherd Neame last October, could be set alight if it is not blocked off.

Beltinge resident Matt Lawrence, 36, said: “I drive past the old Share and Coulter most days to work and I have noticed that fly-tipping has become progressively worse over the last few months.

"The pub itself appears to have been broken into and is completely open.

“I fear it will not be long before someone sets light to it. The building should be made secure with steel shutters and the car park cleared and blocked off.”

Mr Lawrence, an engineer surveyor, said the area around the former pub has become a “fly-tippers’ paradise”.

He added: "I have also noticed children in the vicinity and with an open exposed site like this with broken glass and rubble everywhere, it will not be long before someone gets hurt unless the site is secured.

"The whole area from the car park entrance to further along the road towards Bullockstone Road has become a fly-tippers’ paradise."

"The pub itself appears to have been broken into and is completely open..." - Matt Lawrence

City council spokesman Celia Glynn-Williams said the authority was aware of the issue.

She said: “We are aware of the fly-tipping at this location and met the owners of the land on site last week to discuss the removal of it.

“It will not be straightforward given the volume and type of rubbish there, but we are working with the landowners to try and get the matter resolved.”

Shepherd Neame spokesman Kat Tye added that the pub was sold licensed last year. She said: “After careful consideration we decided to sell the pub, and the sale was completed in October 2015.

"We are unable to comment on the new owner’s plans for the site.”