A pub closed for three years is due to open this week after a major refurbishment transformed it from the eyesore it had become.

The Red Lion in Witley Road, Holt Heath, near Worcester is due to reopen this Friday (April 19) from noon as staff get ready to welcome their first customers. 

This is when the pub and mixed grill is due to open with the Indian restaurant part of the business due to open 'in due course'.

Sports will be shown at the new look pub which will have three 75-inch screens showing a variety of sports channels, including Sky Sports.

Villagers volunteered to help with the garden last month.

Jas and son Sat, the owners, welcomed the support from the community including eight volunteers who helped with the garden.

He said: "The people who came in to help were absolutely brilliant.

"It is fantastic to get support from the locals. We are very thankful to those who turned up. Some of them even brought their own plants and tools."

As previously reported, the pub was acquired by new management after a family from Birmingham took it over.

RECOMMENDED READING: Red Lion pub Holt Heath lit up for first time in years

RECOMMENDED READING: Red Lion Holt Heath opening soon as locals help with garden

When finished, there will be a pub, Indian restaurant, grill bar, children-friendly beer garden, play area and the car park, which has been blocked off, will return to use.

He also wished to thank the community for their 'encouragement and good wishes' on the Holt Millennium Green Trust Facebook page. 

"With the support of the locals I would like to bring this wonderful place back into a place of pride for the local community," he said.

The Red Lion went under the hammer in July but did not fetch the minimum asking price, then £475,000 according to Cottons the auctioneers. 

Many residents recalled with fondness what they said was the heyday of the once 'thriving' pub under former landlord, Derek Hine.

The pub closed in November 2020. A planning application has been submitted by George Windsor for two homes at the back of the site although a decision on the proposal has yet to be reached by Malvern Hills District Council.

Previous plans to demolish the pub and replace it with six four-bed houses were rejected by planners after the pub was deemed to be an important community asset. However, a separate plan that would see the pub renovated was approved.

Several plans for the pub have been put forward since it closed and at one stage it looked as though the once-popular watering hole would be torn down to make way for housing.

However, planners at Malvern Hills District Council rejected the demolition plan saying the pub was an important community asset that needed protecting but did approve a separate plan that would see the pub renovated alongside new en-suite bedrooms.