More than £1,000 hauled from pub wishing well

Experts equipped with breathing apparatus spent around an hour in the pub’s well removing objects including coins, knives and a packet of Twiglets.

The previously unknown contents of the well, which descends eight metres, has been a talking point among the pub’s visitors.

Of the money discovered, 75% will be donated to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in nearby Newhaven, with the remainder being donated to Rodmell parish.

The pub made an occasion of efforts to investigate the well and accompanied the mission with a raffle, hog roast and a competition to guess the weight of the haul discovered – which was 173kg.

Lucie Sargent, who has been the pub’s operator for the past six years, said: “People have been throwing coins down there for years and we thought 'let’s go get that and give something back to the community'.

“We also managed to get a My Little Pony doll a girl dropped down there two months ago so we will be ringing her and giving that back.”

Iain Tindall, managing director of Belay Rope Access, offered to investigate the well’s contents free of charge along with colleague Lloyd Sessions.

Tindall said: “Lloyd and I used to work on an offshore platform, abseiling 300ft down an oil rig. This was the first time we’ve ever done something like this. It will also be the last because it was pretty grim.”