A town's longest serving landlady will pass by her beloved pub for one last time before her funeral this morning.

Margaret Moran, who ran the Forester in Deal, died suddenly on June 4.

She had owned the establishment in The Marina for more than 40 years and had amassed a great many friends and customers in that time.

She will be taken be hearse past the pub before a funeral service begins at St Thomas’ Church, Blenheim Road, Deal, at 11.30am.

It gives friends and loved ones chance to line the street to see the cortège pass.

Mrs Moran, known for her quick wit and sporadic bursts of dance, was described as a "real life Peter Pan" by her family.

She had fallen ill at the pub on Thursday, June 3, and took a turn for the worse, experiencing heart attack-like symptoms the next morning.

Mrs Moran was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital where she died with her daughter Jacqueline and son-in-law Colin beside her.

Tragically, Jacqueline has since died following a long illness - a passing that has been lamented in Herne Bay where she was also landlady of a pub.

A week after the Deal landlady's sudden death, pub regulars had a windfall by betting on namesake horse - Ey Up It's Maggie.

Money from the returns has been donated to a fundraiser to pay for a bench in her memory on Deal seafront.

Online donations amounted to £1470, and cash collected in the pub reached £1761. Deal pub The Farrier, run by Dayle and Donna Melody raised £1,000 for the fund, by holding barbecues during the Euros 2020 football tournament cooked by Jane Baker. It means the £3,000 target has been exceeded.

Following changes to Covid 19 restrictions on Monday, July 19, there are now no limitations to the amount of people who can attend funerals.

After, Mrs Moran will return to The Forester for a farewell toast before a committal at Hawking Crematorium.

Both services will be live streamed allowing remote viewing for those who can not attend in person and there will be screens in the Forester.

There will be a celebration of her life at The Forester afterwards.

Read more: All the latest news from Deal