THE new landlord of a community pub has already put his stamp on the building with fresh paintwork and new decor – but there are now plans for a complete refurbishment next month.

Stuart Miller took over as landlord at the George and Dragon, Hudswell, which was saved from closure in 2010 through a community funded co-operative, two months ago and has announced the official re-launch of the pub will be on Friday, October 17, from 5pm.

Mr Miller said: “We have had a really great first couple of months.

“It has all happened really quickly. People are hearing about us and we have had a lot of return customers already but we have to keep that going – we know it is a long term task to fully establish ourselves.”

Mr Miller said the pub will close for a week from Monday, October 13, until its opening night the following Friday.

The re-launch event will start at 5pm and include free tasters from the menu.