A COUPLE who first met at school in Marlborough are returning to the town to take over a pub which has been empty since last year.

Carol Waters, 54, and her husband Andy, 55, are no strangers to the pub trade. The Queens Head will be their 15 hostelry and they are determined to give it a community feel.

The pair, who are into motorbikes and music, hope to revamp the kitchen so they can serve food and to have barbecues in the outside area.

Mr Waters said: "We feel like we have come home. We often spoke about trying to get a pub in the town and now we have succeeded.

"We want to organise charity events and involve the community. We have put in a pool table and darts and hope to get teams taking part in leagues.

"I know a lot of bands but we don't want to upset the neighbours so we will be sticking to duos and folk music. We also have a lot of biker friends from previous pubs we have had so I expect they will come over to see us."

The couple who have three grown-up sons and five grandchildren are not content with just running a pub they both have other jobs as well. Mrs Waters works as a nurse in a care home and her husband is a painter and decorator.

But they also both like to cook and they hope to soon be ready to serve bar food and Sunday lunches.

Mrs Waters said: "We both grew up in the area in Marlborough and Aldbourne. We first met at St John's School. We want to be part of the community."

To start the pub will be open from 4pm on weekdays and from noon on Saturday and Sunday.