Mystery surrounds a first-of-its-kind town centre events venue which is locked up and looks lifeless less than year after opening.

In January last year it was announced The Green Room would take over the former Pizza Express site in Earl Street, Maidstone.

The five-storey venue took over the popular eatery and boasted live music, a whisky room, a members only cocktail bar, a pizza restaurant, a record shop and radio station, but now looks lifeless.

Headed up by directors Richard Carerra, Matt Shead and Chris Ansell, the site wasn't able to open until mid-May last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ever-changing hospitality rules.

Now, just 11 months after opening the venue is locked, dark and looking lifeless.

The phone number for the venue doesn't ring, emails and messages to its Facebook page - which says the venue is permanently closed - aren't answered and nobody is in to answer the door.

There's no sign of the directors involved either, and one of their recent phone numbers won't connect, while the venue's website has been taken down.

Green Room's most recent social media activity, posted at 1pm last Tuesday, promotes Field Life Festival, an event in Surrey.

It comes after news Pizza Express was returning to a unit further down Earl Street after two years way.

It was previously operating in the multi-storey building The Green Room occupies now.

The owners admitted just one month after opening they were facing losing £500,000 of profit because of lockdown.

Speaking in June, co-director Richard Carerra said: “We are running on 20% capacity and we are projected to lose in the region of £500,000 of profit which is tough for a new business."

At the time Mr Carerra revealed the venue was forced to fork out an extra £15,000 to make the premises Covid secure.

When the venue opened KentOnline visited the building, which was originally opened in 1989, for an exclusive look around.

There was a menu which harked back to its days as a pizzeria, with the addition of macaroni cheese and ribs.

The directors – who also run Grassroots Records – were keen to show off the upstairs music room, with jazz nights planned for an area called The Red Box.

There was also a record store selling vinyl, a dance party and concert venue and a radio station.