THE new owners of a village pub have promised to remain loyal to locals.

There was concern when former tenants Carl and Helen Jones left The Greyhound Inn, Saughall, because of fears the pub would reopen as more of a restaurant.

But the new business owners, who are father and son team Tom Hughes senior and junior and chef Mike Hughes, have offered reassurances.

Tom junior, who is licensee of The Shropshire Arms in the city centre, said of regulars: “First and foremost we want to look after Saughall people. They are our bread and butter and the most important customers, but we want to attract everybody.”

He said food drives the modern pub business but drinkers were welcome and levels between diners and non-diners would be ‘quite balanced’.

There were three snugs in addition to a 54-seater dining area plus a ‘beautiful terraced area’ with umbrellas and heaters.

Chef Mike Hughes, trained under Simon Radley at The Grosvenor hotel and has also worked under Gordon Ramsay at his Royal Hospital Road restaurant in London.

He is an advocate of traditional English cuisine and has come up with a familiar pub food menu using locally sourced ingredients.

Tom added: “Mike spent a year under Gordon Ramsay and six years under Simon Radley. He’s a business partner along with myself and my father.

“It’s exceptionally well done pub food, taken to an extremely high level, with fresh produce, home-cooked every day, but at reasonable prices.”