A vegan restaurant in Ipswich which faced closure earlier this year is now receiving a new lease of life, brick by brick.

Hank's Dirty, in Saint Helen's Street in Ipswich, was originally a takeaway launched by Geoffrey Bligh and Phil Rivers.

Shaun Warner and Elora Timms, who are renovating the business until the early hours of the morningShaun Warner and Elora Timms, who are renovating the business until the early hours of the morning (Image: Hank's Dirty) Elora Timms and Shaun Warner stepped in to save the business, after it hit difficulty when an investment promised to its previous owners in May failed to arrive. 

The couple are now renovating the restaurant, aiming to bring customers into a community rather than just ordering online.

Owner, Elora Timms said: "We're about halfway through now but it is definitely a labour of love.

"I want it to look vibrant and comfortable so people can have food and relax there after.

"At the moment we're open in our normal hours and then after we close, we can be here until 1am painting."

The Hank's Dirty team consists of Mrs Timms, Mr Warner and one other employee (Image: Hank's Dirty)

Mrs Timms continued: "We are really keen on this community thing.

"I think it is so important for people to have a safe space, especially with everything happening at the moment.

"We are a vegan restaurant but we definitely don't just eat salads and we encourage non vegans to come and try the food too."

The team aim to create a space that is safe and welcoming for everyone (Image: Hank's Dirty) The majority of decoration for the renovation has come from charity shops or Facebook marketplace, something which Mrs Timms says is important to her: "It gives objects a new lease of life and at least perfectly good furniture doesn't end up in landfill."

Most of the furniture after the refurbishment has come from sustainable sources (Image: Hank's Dirty) To bring more people in the door, the restaurant/bar/coffee shop/safe space puts on events such as themed food evenings to encourage people to be sociable and make friends.

Finally, Mrs Timms added: "This is a passion project, we knew we wouldn't make much money from it but we really weren't ready to watch Hank's go."