A MUCH-LOVED Basingstoke diner that was forced to remain closed for nearly two months due to flooding is finally reopening.

Iron Bull Roadhouse in Water End Park in Old Basing is “extremely popular” among motorcycle enthusiasts and residents.

Unfortunately, the business could not reopen after its two-week post-Christmas break following continuous floods that threatened its operations.

It took Hampshire Highways several weeks to finally complete the drainage repair works, causing losses to business owners and their 10 staff.

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The diner is finally reopening on Wednesday, March 15.

Paul Ghent, one of the directors of the diner, said he didn’t want to point fingers at Hampshire Highways but said his business was affected as “it took ages” for the engineers to finally come down and repair the drainage.

The 58-year-old said: “I don't know why it took so long. They obviously have limited budgets and a lot of bigger priorities. So I guess in the bigger scheme of things, I probably was a low priority. It was just my Roadhouse that was affected. There may have been other areas where there were 20 or 30 houses at risk of flooding.

“But it was weeks and weeks and weeks before they actually arrived.”

Mr Ghent took over Iron Bull in January 2021 after it went out of business in the middle of the pandemic.

It took five months for him to renovate the place before opening in June 2021.

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Iron Bull soon became a popular destination among motorcycle enthusiasts.

Mr Ghent saw the first flood on December 23, which he managed himself using industrial dehumidifiers.

After the roadhouse closed for post-Christmas break, there were two floods on January 9 and January 14.

“The third flood was just four days before we were to open and that was the worst one. Water was up to knee-high in my car park and it came until the back door of the pub which then flooded my kitchen,” Mr Ghent said.

Over the past two months, Mr Ghent had to pay thousands of pounds to keep the place operating without being able to trade.

“As a new business, we are still on a path to reaching full breakeven. I pay my rent, my overheads like gas, electricity, water and insurances,” said Mr Ghent, who is also a motorcycle enthusiast.

Hampshire Highways has been contacted for a comment.