New landlord Mike Lefever has re-opened the Kings Arms pub in Trowbridge after two years.
The pub, which closed in 2008 after its reputation as a troublespot drove customers away, opened its doors again yesterday afternoon.
Mr Lefever, who lives in Bath with his wife and two children, bought the freehold of the Kings Arms in February and has been refurbishing it ever since.
Mr Lefever said: “There are no structural changes, we have just given it a nicer feel. We have taken it forward and upgraded it.”
The 43-year-old owned pubs in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire before taking four years out and moving to Australia with his family.
He bought the freehold from Punch Taverns and has since been working round-the-clock to turn it round.
“We are hoping to get food running from Friday or next week. We are going to start with a limited menu and build it up each week. We may not have food on Sundays or Mondays to start off with, but we will build it up over time,” he said.
Mr Lefever said he is determined to steer the pub away from its old reputation.
“We are aiming for a family-orientated pub,” he said. “We are going to shut a lot earlier than our neighbours. We have joined the pub watch scheme and have joined the Touch2ID scheme.
“We will have certain people coming in on a Friday and Saturday night as we are a pub in the centre of town.”
He said the pub will be sharing the door staff that Fever nightclub uses at a weekend to try and tackle any anti-social behaviour issues.
“It has been a hard few months,” he said. “We have gone a bit over budget, but it’s been pretty much the same as other buildings we have had. We have met a lot of very nice people in Trowbridge and I hope they are going to react well to the pub and fingers crossed it will go well.”
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