A BELOVED city pub will be moving to a different location by the end of this month.

The Talking Heads pub in Southampton, which is known for hosting a wide variety of live music events, will be vacating its current home in Portswood Road at the end of January.

The establishment will then set up shop just over a mile away in the former location of the Maple Leaf in the Polygon in February while the old location is turned into student flats.

The owners of the pub say that all bookings will go ahead as planned and all tickets that have been sold are still valid and say they are excited about reopening a formerly closed central Southampton location.

An iconic Southampton pub, the Talking Heads has become a musical hotspot for bands and tribute bands but almost closed down in 2012 due to financial pressures.

But thanks to an internet campaign backed by the Daily Echo involving thousands of people and the organiser of Bestival, Rob Da Bank, the venue was saved after business partners Guy Benfield and Martin White stepped forward to sign a lease to take over the establishment.

The pub, which will still be called the Talking Heads, has seen a host of popular musicians play, including rock band Wheatus, whose debut single Teenage Dirtbag has sold more than five million copies worldwide.

Other big names that have graced the venue’s stage include pop superstars The Script, as well as local groups such as Southampton-based trio Band of Skulls.

The pub’s owner, Guy Benfield said: “The Maple Leaf has massive opportunities – we are opening another closed venue and it has a full kitchen and we are looking for someone to lease the kitchen off us.

“We struggle getting people up to Portswood Road for events and it is a much better location – I could not have wished for a better location.”

The 54-year-old from Southampton added: “The Maple Leaf was set up as a music venue and the new owners are very keen to have music there – I see the move as a very positive step for music in Southampton.”