A spooky sight inspired a new bar’s name and could ruffle a few feathers.

Friends Jamie Clark and Tom Mudge, both 30, were struggling to decide on a name for their new bar in High Street, Rochester.

But a strange discovery during refurbishment work provided their inspiration.

Mr Clark, of Rainham, said: “We found a dead pigeon. The previous owners had chalked round it, put two candles around it and wrote ‘RIP Dave’.

“We couldn’t think of a name so we decided to go with The Dead Pigeon.”

The pair got a dark arts expert in to investigate.

Mr Clark said: “The meaning is that the pigeon takes the burden of whatever went wrong before. It’s meant to mean we have a good new beginning and a good future ahead.”

They have kept one of the feathers but nothing more.

Mr Clark said: “We’ve had so many people asking us about it, they think we’re pigeon slayers. We want people to have a laugh at it, if we ruffle a few feathers, it’s okay.”

Medway-born Mr Clark and Mr Mudge launched The Dead Pigeon in the former Northern Seaman micropub.

They plan to hold comedy open mic nights, play lots of sport and have a smart phone quiz night every Monday.

Mr Clark said they were trying to offer unique drinks such as pear and nettle cider.

He added: “Our main drink is called The Dead Pigeon and it’s red like blood. It’s gin and coke so people think it sounds disgusting but everyone says it’s the best, so we challenge everyone to try it.

“We just want to do something a bit different and bring a bit of trendiness to our end of the High Street.”