A WEST Somerset pub and restaurant will be helping former service men and women rebuild their lives when it opens its doors as an official 'retreat' today (Friday).

Blue Anchor's Smugglers Inn is the second in a planned network of retreats to be launched by military charity Afghan Heroes.

The Somerset-based organisation was set up by Denise Harris of Shepton Mallet after her son Corporal Lee Scott lost his life while serving in Afghanistan in 2009.

The newly-named Smuggled Retreat will continue trading as a pub and restaurant but will also offer accommodation to five former services personnel who have found the transition to civvy street difficult.

In addition to receiving a helping hand to readjust to normal life, they will be helped to retrain in a new career of their choice and prepare themselves for life outside the military.

Simon Curtis, who has run the Smugglers for the past nine years, will continue as landlord but will also take on the role of mentor under the Afghan Heroes banner.

Simon, who had previously put the business up for sale, will be leasing it to the charity.

But as with the first retreat in a pub in Ashcott near Street, which opened earlier this year, the Smuggled Retreat will have to be self supporting, sustainable and not a drain on the charity's finances and other projects.

"I've known Denise for quite a while - she and her husband have come to the Smugglers as customers for a number of years and we have raised money for the charity," said Simon.

"When they came up with the idea of turning the Smugglers into a second retreat, I jumped at it. It will be a new chapter for me, the pub and the service personnel.

"But I'm looking forward to the double challenge of running the Smuggled Retreat and acting as mentor to the former service people we are here to help.

"However, I know Denise is keen to see us retain our character, our history and also our loyal customers."

The idea of the new partnership was mooted less than two months ago and although the pub's doors have remained open for business, volunteers have been working round the clock to give it a major makeover and refurbishment.

The results will be officially unveiled and declared open by the charity's patron and North Somerset MP Dr Liam Fox today.

Mrs Harris said Simon had huge experience in various roles within the hospitality sector and was exactly the person needed to run the second retreat.

"We are hoping to run other retreats across the regions but the Smugglers Inn on the coast at Blue Anchor is absolutely ideal for the charity's purposes as the original facility in Ashcott is now full," she said.

Mrs Harris said the retreat programme was at the core of the Afghan Heroes mission and was without doubt the most ambitious project since the charity was launched. It had always been her ultimate goal.

Initially she had considered creating one large post-services facility but plumped for smaller units with self-supporting businesses to provide help across the country, rather than just at one location.

The aim now is to set up a total of 12 outlets across the country.

Mrs Harris said the Ashcott retreat had proved a success beyond the charity's wildest dreams, not only as a post-services facility but also as a business model that could be taken forward.

Residents had settled well in the local community and had already completed a number of re-training courses.

More information on Afghan Heroes is available at http://www.trueheroes.org.uk">www.trueheroes.org.uk.