A landlord was left stunned when a coffin was discovered at his pub during a clear-out.

The teak-panelled coffin with red silk lining and a hinged lid was found in a storeroom at FJ Nichols, Northgate, Blackburn.

Now landlord Chris Wooddissee has put the casket up for sale for £50 in the hope that it will appeal to someone with gothic tastes.

He said: "I have no idea why it was there and I don't think it's ever been used. Well, I hope not anyway!".

The 37-year-old made the deathly discovery when he was clearing out one of the storerooms in preparation for refurbishment in a few weeks.

Among an assortment of old washing machines and other rubbish, he unearthed the fully-intact coffin.

Chris, who has run the town centre bar for 18 months, said: "I don't think it has ever had a body in it but I couldn't believe it when I found it.

"There's been a lot of licensees in this pub over the years so it appears that one of them has brought it here."

The £20,000 revamp by owners TCG has been prompted by the smoking ban from July 1.

However, Chris said: "We are hoping to start the refurbishment in about four weeks and this comes in time for that.

"We thought it would be a good time to have it done.

"We intend to close for three or four days and really just smarten the place up inside. There is definitely still a very strong weekend night-time economy in Blackburn and our club, the Evolution Lounge, is going through the roof in terms of sales.

"I think the smoking ban will have an effect on business, a major impact.

"It's going to be about how you manage it and this refurbishment is about trying to up food trade during the day and make it pick up from there."

Chris said he hoped that in future the only spirits he sees will be those being served behind the bar!