A HAMPSHIRE pub has been thrown a lifeline after being closed for four years.

The Rising Sun, in Bridge Street, Winchester , is set to reopen on July 20 after its lease was taken on by new bosses.

Alex Bell and Nicola Ramshaw have agreed a 23-year lease with owners the Wellington Pub Company and plan to turn the building into a traditional alehouse.

Mr Bell, 27, from West Wales, said: “It’s going to be a pub for locals. I don’t think there is a really traditional pub in Winchester where you can just go for a drink with your mates. We aren’t going to do food, we will make it a real alehouse.

“There doesn’t seem to be a place here where you can just go and sit at the bar for a drink, and you have to be able to do that at a pub.”

Work started on the pub three weeks ago and so far the pair have put £25,000 into refurbishing it.

They previously ran The Horse & Jockey in Curbridge, near Botley, and have more than 20 years of experience at pubs between them.