WORK has started on a £150,000 refit of the Green Dragon pub in South Street, Wellington, writes Barry Knott.

The new owners, The Chapman Group, of Littlehampton, will re-open the premises as a pub with eight en-suite rooms. Some of the features of the pub are being retained and work is expected to be completed in ten weeks. The pub’s skittle alley is disappearing but it is thought the pub will be retaining its name.

The Green Dragon closed in August after the landlady Ruth Pike, 48, who ran the old fashioned pub, was evicted. She blamed a fall-off in trade in recent years, particularly the bed and breakfast business.