A pub named after a former department store and one of the town’s most colourful characters has opened in Streatham High Road.

Pratts and Payne will play host to games nights, music acts, book readings and even a food tasting evening in the coming months.

Its owners, the Antic group, hope it will become a “central feature” for the area.

Pratts closed on the High Street in 1990 following a downturn in sales, while retired party hostess Cynthia Payne ran a brothel in nearby Ambleside Avenue during the 1970s and 1980s.

Michael Armstrong, marketing manager for Antic, invited residents to come forward with ideas about how the pub can best serve the community.

He said: "We’re very keen to meet with local community groups to find out what makes you tick."