A fine dining restaurant which closed after just six months has reopened, thanks to cake entrepreneur Carrie-Anne Wicketts.

The mum-of-six launched the Abbey Cake Shop in a derelict DIY store in Minster village, Sheppey, in 2015 with a friend and turned it into a huge success.

New owner Carrie-Anne Wicketts

Now she has gone upmarket to breathe new life into Banks Restaurant at the other end of the high street.

The posh dining venue reopened its doors on Friday, September 30 and is now back serving evening and midday meals and Sunday lunches.

Sheppey's other new fine dining restaurant Durtnall's in Sheerness – created by Swale Cllr Lee McCall and fellow coach driver John Durtnall and John's wife Amanda – also opened its doors for the first time on Saturday.

Banks was the brainchild of Sheppey builder Mark Seabrook, who spent a decade lovingly converting the former Prince of Waterloo pub into what he hoped would be Sheppey's top restaurant. It is named after the architect Sir Edward Banks who designed most of Sheerness, including the Royal Hotel.

There has been a pub on the site since 1633. Historians believe it was visited by author Charles Dickens who based a number of his characters on Island people when he was living in Blue Town.

Banks launched last November to capture the Christmas bookings, but staff shortages and the continued effects of Covid led to its unexpected closure at Easter following the loss of three head chefs.

Last month, out of the blue, Carrie-Anne, 43, announced she had taken a five-year lease on the premises.

She said: “I was on maternity leave when Mark phoned and asked if I'd be interested in taking over his restaurant.

"It was not something I had ever considered but I've watched him building it up, piece by piece, for the past 10 years and knew I had to take it over.

"It would have been too sad to have seen all his hard work lost."

She added: "There are many lovely places to eat on Sheppey but fine dining is still quite limited. A lot of us do go off the Island to eat so there is definitely a demand."

Carrie-Anne has appointed Mark Read as head chef. He has many years' experience of working in kitchens, including running London restaurants, and had recently moved to the Island.

She has also retained previous Banks' staff who have been with the restaurant since it started.

Her long-time school friend Helena Harris has given up her teaching assistant job to work at the restaurant full time.

Carrie-Anne's son Finley, 17, and daughter Ruby, 15, have also joined the team.

So will Carrie-Anne be baking cakes behind the scenes for her new venture?

"No," she insisted. "But they are using my brownie recipe!"

She will continue to run the Abbey cake shop.