At a time when so many pubs are closing, a couple have re-opened one.

Darryl Cook and his partner Sarah Gould have taken on the Long Hop in London Road, Sittingbourne, five months after it closed its doors to the public.

They both have experience in the industry.

Ms Gould, 34, previously managed the Black Bull Hotel in Folkestone, which is now part of the Hungry Horse chain.

Mr Cook worked for JD Wetherspoon, managing the Peter Cushing in Whitstable and the Saxon Shore in Herne Bay before jacking it in so he could branch out on his own.

The 32-year-old said: “I felt it was the right time to do it, with Sarah helping me. Things are on the turn. The economy is picking up again. It’s in the ideal location, being on the A2 and opposite the cricket club.

“It’s still a work in progress, but we felt we had to open sooner rather than later because we had a lot of interest from the locals.

“We’re leasing it through Enterprise Inns for three years, but we can extend it if we want to.”

The bar has been given a makeover, but it’s the kitchen the couple are now concentrating on as they want to introduce food, including Sunday roasts, in the coming weeks.

Mr Cook added: “We’re looking to do lunch and dinner to start with. We’d like to serve food all day, but it depends on the demand so we will gauge it as we go along.

“As for entertainment, we’re asking people to tell us what they want rather than putting on what they don’t like.

“We’ll be looking at live music in the future.

“There’s also two dartboards here so it would be nice to have a team.”

Ms Gould, a mum of four, said: “It’s a dream we both had, and we’ve been particularly picky about the type of pub we wanted.

“We’ve not over-stretched ourselves financially so we should be able to do it and prove to others it can be done.”