Thanet's first Lebanese is set to take over the restaurant at a seafront hotel complete with 24-hour bar licence for residents.

Pasha on Northdown Road has been open for less than a year but the owners have already set their sights on expansion around the isle.

The business will take now over lunches and evening meals at the Royal Crescent Victoria on Fort Crescent.

According to owner Khaled Alduhbaybi of Birchington, Pasha will also run the outside area which will be used as a shisha garden.

A large Arabian-style party tent will cater for 65 people at a sitting.

There will be a 24-hour bar service for the hotel, and the kitchen will be open from 12pm to 12am.

Pasha on Northdown Road will open from 3pm and Mr Alduhbaybi says it has has been a great success while offering employment for local people.

"We are fully booked all the time and it was now time to offer our customers another dining choice. Taking over the hotel was an easy decision, there will be a great atmosphere, it has a good reputation and it is a good quality hotel.

"The Middle Eastern food will be exactly the same as here and we will offer the cuisine we love. Our staff are the same and there will be Lebanese vegetarian foods and our charcoal grilled meats. Service will be wonderful."

The father-of-three arrived in Thanet 27 years ago after a day trip from London. "I arrived and loved the place so much I tore up my train ticket and stayed," he said.

A natural businessman he was already running kebab shops at the age of 18. Nothing is impossible, anyone can succeed with hard work and determination,"