THE Iron Duke pub in Wellington and the Duke of Wellington in Minehead could re-open next month, says the chairman of owners JD Wetherspoon.

Tim Martin said the company was hoping to re-open its 850 pu2bs nationwide ‘in or around June’ and was planning on that basis.

The Government ordered pubs to close in March to stop the spread of coronavirus and has not yet lifted lockdown restrictions or said when they may be lifted.

Mr Martin told the BBC last week: “We have no insight whatsoever as to when pubs might re-open.

“We’ve made an assumption, just for planning purposes, that pubs might be allowed to open in late June – but we don’t know any more than anyone else.”

The BBC has reported that Wetherspoons has furloughed 99 per cent of its staff and slashed costs.