THE new owners of a pub which was saved from the bulldozers say they aim to restore it as a “heart of the community” once again.

As the Star reported in January, pub company Bravo Inns purchased the Boars Head on Elton Head Road from Punch Taverns, saving it from demolition.

Plans to destroy the building at the junction with Lowfield Lane and replace it with a large food store and smaller retail unit had been approved by the council planners before the last-minute reprieve.

With renovation works set to begin this month, it is believed the pub will be ready for its opening in April.

“At the time I couldn’t say if I was going to be successful but fortunately we were and we’ll be commencing work to re-open the Boar’s,” confirmed Bravo Inns managing director Ken Buckley.

“We want to keep it as a pub and we just want to restore it to its former glory. We will try to make it the focal point of the area and I hope we’ll bring it back to the heart of the community,” he added.

“This is our 38th pub and we already have the Little Pig in Sutton which is a smashing local. Bravo has been going for eight years and all of our pubs are in the North West.

“I worked at Greenalls for 35 years and I remember the Boar’s when it was a Greenalls pub and we will bring the place back to life.”
It is believed up to eight jobs will be created by the pub’s re-opening.

“We will do with it as we do with all of our pubs and provide a sports package and traditional games, darts, dominoes and pool and hopefully get involved with local activities. I hope it will come to seven or eight jobs being created.”