A DIDCOT pub which was shut down almost two years ago may be given a new lease of life after a pub chain put forward an application to bring it back into use.

The Wallingford Arms in Broadway shut its doors in early 2015, but now Spirit Pub Company plans to take on the running of the pub, which is owned by chain Greene King.

A licence variation application posted outside the front of the pub last week has given a glimmer of hope to pub goers that it could be brought back into use if plans are approved.

The plans outlined in the notice would see the pub open from 9am until 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday and from 9am until 12.30am Friday and Saturday.

Late night refreshments, adult entertainment and facilities for dance and music are set to be removed from the licence as part of the application.

There will also be changes to the layout of the pub to include 'a reconfiguration of the bar servery to allow a new access door to back of house, extension to the current kitchen, two new entrances at either side of the premises, relocation of toilets and changes to fixed seating.

Didcot North East district councillor Bill Service said it would be good for the area.

He said: "I moved here 17 years ago and back then it was a thriving pub, it had a really great Sunday carvery.

"Then it had a change in ownership and it became a music pub, and it was not somewhere we went to after that.

"If a licence application has been applied for then that it is a really good thing, I would welcome it."

"I suppose it won't do the local trade in takeaways and restaurants any harm, and a bit of competition never hurt anyone."

Reaction to the announcement on social media has been largely positive.

Writing on the Spotted Didcot facebook page Muriel Farrell said: "Gosh, I don't live in Didcot any more so haven't been in there for years but I have memories of many happy times spent I there in the late 1960s, especially after finishing a shift at the canning factory just around the corner from it."

Trevor House added: "We need this place to be vibrant as part of the community, not as an ugly boarded up wreck that can create a bad impression of our town."

Greene King Pubs, partners of Spirit Pub Company, were contacted for comment but did not respond.

To have your say on the application visit southoxon.gov.uk