THE long wait is almost over for customers waiting for one of Royal Wootton Bassett’s best known pubs to reopen.

Ashley Windle and Samantha Berry, who took over the former Prince of Wales next to the Coped Hall roundabout, are set to take their first orders on August 1 after spending the past five months on renovations.

And the pub has a new name - The Royal Wootton Bassett - to go with its new look.

Ashley, who ran the The Weighbridge Brewhouse until 2016 and the Three Crowns in Brinkworth up until eight years ago, said:

“I can’t wait, we just want the doors to be open now. We’ve got a couple small things to finish off and then we’re good to go,” Ashley said.

“We just can’t wait to welcome the people of Wootton Bassett and those in surrounding towns and villages.

“A lot of people seem very excited for us to open as we have received lots of messages asking about it. Hopefully they will think it’s a brilliant place to go to and it will be a real good asset to the town.”

They will be sourcing the food and products locally to put investment back into the local economy, helping small businesses through the pandemic.

Ashley said: “Royal Wootton Bassett is such a close community that I can’t wait to be a part of. One lady who has lived here for around 30 years was hoping to get the letters of the pub’s old name and we were going to sell it but decided to give it to her.”

As part of the refurbishment they’ve extended the kitchen, stripped everything down and rebuilt it all on the inside. They have also brought in a tapas bar and plan to serve dishes from around the world. Other changes will be made because of the Government’s Covid safety guidelines.

“We are really excited to open and know there may be a few challenges but we are doing all we can to ensure people are safe while visiting us and of course we will do everything we can to keep staff and customers safe. The challenges of opening at what is hopefully the back end of a pandemic are very real, however we are confident that the experience we are going to offer is going to give us the best possible chance.

He added: “We’re going to have a strict social distance scheme in place, we will take all our customers details so we can track and trace.

“Sanitation stations will be in place, staff will take the strict hygiene training and tables will be arranged so they won’t be within a metre of each other.”

Bookings will be needed to make in advance via info@theroyalrwb.com