Its owners describe it as a ‘grotty rundown pub by the sea’ but the Sportsman in Seasalter has been crowned the UK’s number one gastropub.

The pub, in Faversham Road, is run by brothers Philip and Stephen Harris and picked up the award at the Budweiser Budvar Top 50 Gastropub Awards on Sunday.

Self-taught Stephen, who took on the spot 15 years ago, is also the Sportsman’s head chef and described the pub as ‘grotty and rundown’ on its Twitter biography.

He said: “I called it that because I get fed up with people telling me it is grotty. I figured if I tell them that first then they can’t be disappointed when they visit!

“The point is that some people think it’s a dump but I think it’s beautiful.

“For 15 years I’ve had people telling me what a rundown pub it is so I’m not going to get their hopes up.

“We know it’s really run down and in the middle of nowhere and we don’t make out to be anything special but we just keep going. “We’ve got a good team.”

The Shepherd Neame-owned pub, which has held a Michelin star since 2008, beat pubs from Somerset and East Yorkshire into second and third places.

Stephen added: “It’s really good to win. We did come second last year and second again the year before that so is not that big of a surprise.

“I think it’s being here everyday and having a good team of people here. We just keep going and cooking nice food – that’s it really.

“There’s not a formula or anything like that. We just keep our heads down and keep going – I think that’s a good way to work.

“It’s not like overnight success. It’s not a secret, you just keep plugging away and chipping away at it.”