An historic rundown pub, which has been empty for decades, has gone under the hammer for £115,000.

The Lord Duncan in Chatham, once a favourite haunt for locals, has been boarded up and branded an eyesore over the years.

It was last known to be selling drinks in the late 60s, but a date of when last orders were finally called is not certain.

But now an ambitious buyer has snapped up the massive Grade-2 listed four-storey building in New Road with potentially, a bid to restore it to its former glory.

Such is the dilapidation of the detached period premises, believed to have been built in the late 1700s, that viewing internally was not permitted.

The Lot 94 at the Clive Emson auction at Kent Showground, Detling on Monday also unusually had a nil reserve.

Auctioneer John Stockey said: "We did not really know how it would go, but it has sold for a good price. There was piles of interest in this property and a lot of people bidding."

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"This provides an excellent restoration project for somebody. I'd be very interested to see how it goes."

His company was instructed to sell the property on behalf of the executor handling the previous owner's business.

It offers extensive accommodation with the ground floor still housing the front bar and servery, separate saloon bar and two rooms at the back. On the first floor there is a double length room and two smaller rooms. On the top floor there are a further five rooms off a landing.

In 1872, records showed it had a full licence and was owned by Edward Winch of Chatham and of brewery Style and Winch. The Chatham brewery closed in 1899 and in its heyday had a total of 356 public houses.

It was named after Admiral Duncan of the Royal Navy who defeated the Dutch fleet off Camperdown and Egmont in 1795.

The building offers potential for a variety of future uses, subject to all necessary conditions being obtainable.

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