A DISUSED village pub is set to have a new lease of life.

The Fox and Hounds in Crawley has been closed for 18 months, but is now set to open once more after it was sold for around £650,000.

The buyer is Lenny Carr-Roberts who resurrected The Bugle Inn in Twyford.

His reputation will please villagers in Crawley as The Bugle has since become a central hub in the village for food and beer.

When the Bugle was closed by developers in 2004, villagers feared the worst when it was shut for three years, but Mr Carr-Roberts turned it into a popular food spot which still retained its life as a pub.

The earmarked date for the Fox and Hounds to reopen is next spring.

Mr Carr-Roberts, a friend of chef Marco Pierre White, said: “I am very pleased and excited about the purchase of the Fox and Hounds.

“Far too many village pubs have closed in the last 12 years, due to poor investment and high brewery rents.

“Crawley is a beautiful village and deserves a successful independent village pub.

“It was nine years ago that we bought The Bugle Inn, after it had been closed for three years.

“After huge investment and hard work, it became Winchester’s top-rated restaurant and has been for the last five years.

“The whole Bugle team are thrilled at having a second business to show off their skills.“

"At the Fox & Hounds we will be investing heavily in the building itself and totally refurbishing the interior and exterior. Our aim is to make the Fox & Hounds the pub in the country you always want to visit.

"A new and larger kitchen will be the engine room of the business and I can’t wait to start cooking local produce in it. As with The Bugle Inn, we will be serving locally brewed beers as well.”

Parish councillor for Crawley, Fred Fratter said: “The parish council is delighted that the pub has been purchased, and we have confidence in the purchaser, given how they have run and still run The Bugle Inn, and we look forward to it opening in due course.”

Richard Wood, business agent in Christie & Co’s Winchester office who handled the sale, said: “I was delighted to facilitate the transaction which will see another of Winchester’s iconic pubs re-open its doors with a successful operator at the helm.

"We wish Lenny every success in what will be a strong business for many years to come.”

“Pubs which are still viable businesses are all too often being snapped up by developers to be converted into housing or other alternative uses so it’s fantastic in this case to be assisting in re-opening the doors on what is a truly magnificent pub.”

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