HE WAS the celebrated bar boss who persuaded award-winning DJ Chris Evans to help him run one of Hampshire’s best-known eateries.

But businessman Rob Smith has declared himself bankrupt, with debts totalling almost £370,000, after being forced to leave The Haven Bar & Bistro in Lymington.

Three years ago Mr Smith went into partnership with Evans after The Haven was given a major facelift.

It gained new furniture and quirky features such as a table that was used in Evans’s TGI Friday show and signed by guest celebrities. It was also a stop-off point for the broadcaster’s convoy of supercars, which took part in an annual fundraising run for Children in Need.

But Mr Smith’s landlord, Yacht Havens Group, decided to terminate his lease earlier this year for reasons that were never fully explained.

He left The Haven in March, having run the waterfront eatery since 2002.

Now a document sent to creditors by the Insolvency Service reveals that he hit financial trouble after funding improvements to The Haven and fighting the attempt to evict him.

Mr Smith applied to have a bankruptcy made against him earlier this month, saying he had no assets and debts of £368,906.

Explaining the bankruptcy order the document says Mr Smith had to fund new fixtures and fittings as well as coping with rising overheads.

Those factors, coupled with cashflow problems caused by the seasonal nature of his trade, resulted in him taking out two commercial loans and using his personal credit cards to make business-related purchases.

The document says Mr Smith also owed tax and was making monthly payments of £4,000 when his lease was terminated. It adds: “Robert Smith attributes his insolvency to the abrupt termination of his occupancy of his trading premises at a time when he was not cash-flow insolvent and had a plan to for the repayment of his debts.”

Last month Yacht Havens Group issued a statement confirming that The Haven was under new management but gave no reason for the change.

Earlier this year Chris Evans was reported to have parted company with the eatery.

Mr Smith made headlines in 2012 after painting a Lymington postbox gold in honour of Olympic sailing hero Sir Ben Ainslie.

Sir Ben lives in the town but the Royal Mail decided to salute his latest Olympic gold medal success by painting a postbox in Restronguet, Cornwall, where he grew up.

After taking matters into his own hands Mr Smith was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage but police later decided to take no further action.

The Daily Echo was unable to contact Mr Smith over his bankruptcy.