THE former Archers Brewery building is being transformed from a derelict eyesore into a premier dining experience.

The empty building, in Penzance Drive, has been bought by husband and wife team Anthony and Allyson Windle, who also own the award winning Three Crowns in Brinkworth.

The couple, both 49, will split their time between the two pubs and are promising their usual high standard of food and drink at both venues. The new restaurant, called The Weighbridge Brewhouse, will officially open on August 12 and will include the town’s first microbrewery.

It will seat 110 people in the ground floor restaurant, and a further 36 in an upstairs intimate dining area, complete with a grand piano and comfy leather sofas.

Archers went into administration in 2007 – forcing the closure of the site.

Anthony, who has been in the business for around 35 years, has high hopes for the restaurant.

He said: “People are going to walk in the front doors and think ‘wow, this is amazing’.

“We have nearly 1,500 apartments and houses right on our doorstep and these people have nowhere to go for a drink of an evening, or for a nice chilled out meal, so we will be able to provide that.

“I know Swindon very well, and there are places in the town centre that you can go to but they are often very noisy and a bit aggressive. We are offering something completely different.

“It will be very mellow, we aren’t going to allow stag parties in, but it will be somewhere for example that women can come to and not feel intimidated. The intimate area will be ideal for couples celebrating their wedding anniversary or birthdays, and it will be ideal for people who have been shopping at the Outlet Village and want to come over for a glass of wine, or a nice lunch.

“All food will be cooked fresh on site, we have no frozen food.”

The opening of the restaurant will bring with it 20 full-time jobs and between 30 and 50 part-time jobs – and the couple have had more than 200 applications in the first 24-hours alone.

Established in 1979, the brewery had been handcrafting and brewing award-winning ales for 30 years. It brewed more than 190 different ales making it a producer of one of the largest range of cask ales worldwide.

Anthony said its history of being the final place that the GWR railway’s steam trains would go before being put on the tracks made it an iconic building and one he and his wife just could not resist.

“We thought it was time that we expanded our business,” he said.

“The building is beautiful and so iconic. If we didn’t buy it, it could have been lost.

“Because it is of special interest, there are certain adjustments we can’t make to the outside of the building. We are keeping it as original as it can possibly be kept but the interior will be modern and sophisticated.

“We have designed absolutely everything ourselves with no project manager, and I have been able to see how I want it to look right from the beginning and we have thought about every little detail.

“It is a huge project but the whole thing will be completed in six months, and the builders from John Saunders have been absolutely fantastic. Swindon needs a premier venue and we are going to make it Swindon’s premier venue.”