Two entrepreneurs who met 'on the buses' are to open a fine-dining restaurant on Sheppey.

Swale Cllr Lee McCall has teamed up with fellow coach driver John Durtnall and John's wife Amanda to create Durtnall's.

Work on the bold new venture, revamping a former derelict food store on the corner of Sheerness High Street and Rose Street near the town's clock tower, is already well under way. It is planned to open on October 1.

John, 57, who has spent more than 30 years in the hotel trade, said: "There is definitely a demand. Everyone we have spoken to says Sheerness needs something like this. After 6pm the town dies. The only place you can get a sit-down meal is Wetherspoon."

He added: "Mem's at Halfway is great if you like Turkish food and the Dining Room at Leysdown is excellent for Indian cuisine. There is Banks in Minster but there is nowhere in Sheerness serving English food at night."

The project, on the ground floor of the town's former Britannia Hotel, is costing £40,000 to get off the ground. It will feature upmarket chandeliers and possibly a harpist. It will also boast a secret weapon - a baby grand piano.

John said: "We are hoping to have a pianist playing on Saturday evenings and Sunday lunchtimes. We even thought of trying to invite the mysterious Piano Man who was found washed up on Sheerness beach."

Bavarian Andreas Grassl made headlines in 2005 when he was discovered dripping wet and wandering the seafront after apparently losing his memory. He was dubbed the Piano Man because he played the instrument while in hospital trying to recover from amnesia.

John added: "It would be nice if he'd like to return to Sheppey to play the piano again."

John and Amanda are both trained chefs. Amanda, who is currently a care worker at Blackburn Lodge, is planning to work in the restaurant full time.

John, who met Lee when the pair were driving buses for a local firm, will continue as a coach driver during the day. He added: "It's very fitting that we are in the old Britannia Hotel. I'm told that in the 1960s it was silver service in the restaurant. We won't be silver service but our staff will likely be in black."

The hotel later became home to solicitors. The front was converted into three shops including Kent Barbers and Seun's Hair and Cosmetics.

Durtnall's is the latest restaurant to open on Sheppey as the Island attempts to go upmarket. Mem's Mezze led the way in 2017 converting the former Halfway Houses pub into a Turkish restaurant.

Most recently, builder Mark Seabrook turned the former Prince of Waterloo pub in Minster into Banks, named after the architect who designed most of Sheerness. Leysdown's Indian restaurant The Dining Room has also been winning plaudits for its meals.

Swale council granted Durtnall's its drinks licence last week despite complaints from John Somersell, who owns flats above the unit.

He said: "Having this bar, live music and restaurant with an alcohol licence under seven flats would cause so much unnecessary problem to my tenants. I'm sure none of us would like it happening to where we live."

He said the restaurant would bring an "enhanced fire risk" and added: "My tenant's lives would be put at risk.

"We do not want another Grenfell. I will do whatever it takes to prevent one happening to my tenants."

Cllr McCall said they had bought fire-proof foam cladding to prevent flames spreading and that the fire service would conduct a review before the restaurant opened.

He noted that the new kitchen was in the same place as the former hotel kitchen and that it had guests' rooms above it.

He told the committee: "It's not going to be just a bar, it's going to be a restaurant with sit-down meals only. We've done everything we can by adding conditions into the application to try and please everybody and that has resulted in no objections coming in from other authorities like the police and fire service."

Additional reporting Chris Hunter