Their table manners may leave a little to be desired, and they certainly never ring ahead to book.

But late-night guests are always welcome to come and sample the sett-menu - at the Bearsted restaurant for badgers.

These stripy short-legged omnivores have proved a hit online after they started dining in the back garden of driving instructor Marcel Payne.

The dad-of-one, whose house backs onto woodland, has been leaving out morsels for the nocturnal visitors for some time.

But with more time on his hands during lockdown, he has now rolled out the red carpet from the cute critters - creating an illuminated entrance through a fence, setting up a dining table with room for all and serving the midnight feast on plastic plates.

The 49-year-old, along with his eight-year-old son Lewis, leave out an interesting selection of snacks for their diners, including jacket potatoes, peanut butter sandwiches and dog food.

"I started out feeding hedgehogs," the back garden maître d explained.

"Then we saw there was more and more food being consumed, so I stayed up to see why, and up popped a badger.

"So during lockdown I decided to create a garden restaurant for a bit of fun - and it went mad.

"It was a way of keeping us entertained and give people a bit of light relief. There was a lot of bad news, and it was a way of making people smile."

There are around 10 regular visitors to the back garden, and they have all been given names including Biggs, Beavis, Smudge and Nerys.

Videos and pictures of the creatures tucking into their meal have delighted followers of a Facebook group Mr Payne set up to share their dinner-time antics.

Now the group has almost 1,300 members from around the world, and the story of the late-night meals has been picked up by media worldwide.

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