PUB landlady Gina Giddings is fighting a major battle to re-launch Kingswear's troubled Royal Dart Hotel – which has so far cost her a home, a yacht and a fiancé.

The 47-year-old former Torquay teacher has already had to deal with a suspected vandal attack on the drains which backed up into the riverside bar and restaurant loos, forcing her to close the business for two days during the vitally important Easter holiday period.

She has spent thousand of pounds redecorating the historic pub, replacing equipment and rescuing village memorabilia and pictures which had been part of the pub.

'Things have been fraught and traumatic,' said Gina who took over the running of the Royal Dart Hotel earlier this month.

But despite all the problems, Gina is looking forward to a busy summer season as she declared: 'The pub is now looking lovely. We have got a great chef and a good bar team and we are ready to go.

'We have come through everything and we are ready to go. We are open and preparing for the summer and the pub looks great.'

Gina is a qualified solicitor and was working as an English teacher at a school in Torquay before deciding to take on the well-known pub.

In March this year she sailed into the river on board her 55ft yacht with a friend and they stopped for a meal at the Royal Dart.

'We were all going to sail over to Gibraltar and we had the boat lifted, so we came into the pub for breakfast,' she said.

She heard that the then landlord was looking for a backer and she was so taken with the place she stepped forward and began talks about becoming a partner.

That fell through as the landlord and leaseholder left suddenly and she decided to take it on herself – and is currently negotiating the lease with the Dart Haven Marina landlords, she said.

But her plans for the pub and restaurant have not been all plain sailing. Her relationship with her airline pilot fiancé broke down over her plans and she moved out of her Torquay home to live in the accommodation that goes with the pub.

'My partner decided he did not want me and the pub and I had to make a decision. He had the boat and I had the pub,' she said.

Then over the Easter holidays she had to call in the police after someone dumped concrete blocks down the sewer outside the pub which blocked the bar toilets and they backed up and overflowed.

The resulting mess forced her to replace the carpets and close the place over Easter Sunday and Monday.

Since she has been at the pub she has also had to change the locks, she added.

But she had nothing but praise for the villagers who have supported her since she moved in.

'The village has absolutely come together to help. When I had the flood they came down and helped me clean up. They helped me take up the carpets and they even came in and painted the ceiling for me,' she said.

'I am really quite moved at how the village has come together and helped me out as much as possible.'

The Royal Dart Hotel consists of a bar and a downstairs and an upstairs restaurant. It overlooks the river with views across to Dartmouth and boasts a riverside balcony.

The Royal Dart Hotel hit the headlines last year when the then business boss Stephen Sussams was condemned on the BBC's Panorama programme as a dole cheat amid claims he was being investigated over benefit payments involving property in Croydon.

Gina said she had been aware of the controversy surrounding the pub but was determined to make a go of the business.

She said: 'I now have the pub. I have decorated and I am waiting for the season to start. We have a fantastic chef in Andy Wilkins and two apprentice chefs who he is training. It's not going to be easy but I am determined to make a go of it.'