“THIS pub used to be a good pub. I want to put it back on the map for what it really should be.”

That is the message from the new landlady of The New Inn, in Sarum Hill, this week as it reopens tomorrow.

Kelley Bowers has taken the reins of the once-troubled pub in addition to her landlady duties at the King of Wessex, in Winchester Road.

The pub has seen its fair share of controversy in the past with anti-social behaviour and underage drinking, among other issues, but Kelley is keen to shake this reputation.

She said: “There have been three different people in here [running the pub] in the last 18 months. I think they have come in, not knowing the pub’s history and its clientele and that’s why they haven’t made it work.

“But I’m from the area and I think I know what I’m doing. I want people to have confidence in this place and the place to have confidence in itself.”

The idea is to give the pub its own distinctive identity.

Plans include live music nights every other Saturday evening focusing on giving local talent a stage to make their own and making every Friday night at the pub specifically LGBT focused.

Kelley added: “I don’t think the gay community has had that regular offering before in Basingstoke.

“I want to make this a real community pub. I want the bar staff to make everyone who walks through the front door feel welcome and to know there will be someone here they can talk to.”

The pub, closed for around the last three months, has not been refurbished as an overhaul was conducted around two years ago.

However, a deep clean has been undertaken since Kelley, landlady at the King of Wessex since February 2011, with new cellar lines installed and the drinks on tap offer completely changed.

The Gazette reported last week that a fifth of pubs in Basingstoke and Deane had closed since 2010.

Rounded figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that of the roughly 100 public houses and bars operating across Basingstoke and Deane in 2010, 20 had closed by 2017.

About the figures, Kelley said: “There is still a place for a pub. People are still looking for a local where can they can become regulars and have a nice place to be in the evenings.”