Tesco to develop derelict pub

Tesco is set to redevelop and open a derelict Grade II pub if given permission by planners.

The supermarket giant is planning to refurbish the Horse and Farrier on Wigton Road, Carlisle, and open it as a community pub if plans are approved to build a Tesco Metro on the pub's former bowling green. The development is due before planners in six weeks.

Tesco already owns the site and says it has had early interest from prospective licensees looking to take on the completed pub. It is yet to be decided if the pub would be run under management or leased out.

Juliette Bishop, corporate affairs manager for Tesco, said: "Tesco has successfully converted some listed buildings into Tesco Express stores.

"However, in this case, we did not feel that a conversion into a retail unit would be sympathetic to the building. We feel our plans would enhance the local area through the re-opening of the pub as a local community facility and a retail unit to support the vitality of the local shopping parade. Having become unviable and in need of significant refurbishment, the pub has stood empty. It is part of the site that Tesco has bought and at this stage no decision has been made about its future freehold or leasehold status."

The historically important building was designed by architect Henry Redfern and built in 1929 under the government's State Management Scheme to make pubs more family-orientated and less likely to encourage drunkenness.

The State Management Scheme saw the UK government take over and run the brewing, distribution and sale of liquor in three regions of the UK from 1916 until 1973. The main centre was the Carlisle and District scheme. The building was listed in 1973.