IT IS named after one of the most famous figures in Hampshire's history.

Now planning permission is being sought to upgrade The Snakecatcher, a popular watering hole in the centre of Brockenhurst.

Civic chiefs are studying an application to enlarge the kitchen by building a single-storey extension.

The Snakecatcher is named after Harry "Brusher" Mills, who used to drink there in the days when it was called the Railway Inn.

Harry lived in an old charcoal burner’s hut about a mile north of Brockenhurst.

Armed with little more than a sack and a forked stick he caught snakes for a living, selling them to London Zoo as food for their birds of prey.

He also attended cricket matches at nearby Balmer Lawn and was paid to sweep the pitch between innings, earning him the nickname Brusher.

After his new hut was vandalised he took up residence in an outbuilding at the Railway Inn but died not long after.