PLANS to renovate a popular Ellesmere Port pub which includes creating seven bedrooms to offer an overnight stay have been given the green light.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has approved the proposals to transform The Rake in Little Stanney, which closed its doors back in January this year.

New owners Brunning and Price – which runs a number of pubs in the North West and the South including The Architect and The Old Harkers Arms in Chester, as well as The Red Fox in Thornton Hough – had earmarked this September for the reopening.

However, a spokeswoman has confirmed to The Standard that due to the coronavirus pandemic no work can currently be carried out so the launch date will have to be put back.

She added that as soon as it is safe for work to resume at the site it will – as "we can’t wait to open the doors again at The Rake" – and a revised opening date will then be announced.

The plans for The Rake include ground floor extensions, comprising a garden room, the creation of seven letting bedrooms, the reconfiguration and extension of the customer car park, and new landscaping works.

The Grade II listed building was formerly a Hungry Horse pub, one of the Greene King brands, and closed on January 12.

It was quickly snapped up by Brunning and Price who said on its website: "We are thrilled to have received the keys to Rake Hall in Little Stanney.

"It's a magnificent Grade II listed building which originated as a country house, the home of the Bunbury family, built in the 17th century, and later altered and expanded.

"It sits on Rake Lane just a stones throw (with a good arm) away from the busy Cheshire Oaks shopping 'village', but as it's surrounded by a huge garden you could easily be fooled into thinking you were in the middle of the countryside.

"Our refurbishment works are quite extensive. Rake Hall will make a wonderful B&P pub, with a stunning private dining room upstairs seating 20, a huge new terrace overlooking the lawns and seven bedrooms for those who would like to stay with us overnight."