The landlord of a recently-closed pub has been sent to prison for attacking another man.

The Bell Inn director Michael Williams has been jailed for five years and 10 months after he was found guilty of an attack at a trial at Swindon Crown Court on December 20.

Williams, aged 37, was charged with unlawfully and maliciously wounding Conrad Burrows with intent to do him grievous bodily harm, at Bratton, Westbury, on September 5.

The exact details of the incident are not yet known.

The Bell, a free house which was formerly a Wadworth pub, has stood in the centre of the much-sought-after village since 1740.

The Gazette reported last week that the watering hole at Great Cheverell, between Devizes and West Lavington, had joined the growing list of pubs that had closed because the Covid-caused lockdown had damaged trade.

But hopes have risen that The Bell Inn will open again as a co-director of the pub said she will do “everything in my power” to make it happen.

Lorna Rapley said: “While I am still owner and director of the business I’ll do everything in my power to see it back as a pub.

"Even if it was to be sold, there was never any question of it being sold as anything other than a pub.”

Great Cheverell pub closes after pulling pints for three centuries | The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald