THE Thicket Tavern, an Anerley pub described as an "eyesore" that was a magnet for unsavoury characters and anti-social behaviour, has been stunningly transformed.

Three years ago the Anerley Road pub was purchased by property investment and construction company Lightbox.

The pub had a reputation for being rough, proving a headache for local residents, and had gone out of business a year earlier.

Redevelopment started 13 months ago: the bricks on the outside of the building were cleaned, while the removal of 15 layers of paint revealed elegant Victorian tiles.

The upper floors of the building were converted into flats, all of which have sold, and the ground floor will serve as a pop-up gallery for local artists.

Local resident Calum Mason, 38, of Thicket Road, works for Winkworth, the estate agent that sold the flats.

He said: "I am a local resident and I live very near the pub.

"It was a real eyesore before, there were unsavoury characters hanging around, it attracted people with drug problems.

"When I heard Neville, who I have worked with before, had got the job I was very excited.

"Now it has just brightened up this whole area.

"Before it was turning people's heads in the wrong way, now it is turning people's heads in the right way.

"And the pop-up gallery is a great idea - there is a big art community in the area so to give the space to artists is great."

And, according to Neville De Souza, 37, of Gipsy Hill, Lambeth, one of the founding members of Lightbox, the public response has been overwhelming.

He said: "We have had so much support for the project - I have never had that positive a response to anything I have done.

"We have received 260 letters from people supporting what we have done; every day at least 10 people stop us and say what an amazing job we have done.

"When we found the building three years ago, we knew it had previously attracted drug dealers and anti-social behaviour.

"We just want to make sure everything we do is right for the area."