ONE of Basingstoke’s oldest pubs has been given a facelift to bring it into the 21st century.

The White Hart, in London Road, which is approximately 300-years-old, has been reinvigorated since new owners Brent Guiblin and Sophie Connor took over in October last year.

Owned by Enterprise Inn, the firm wanted to give the pub a new feel, and after being closed for a month, the pair re-opened its doors on Tuesday, February 28.

The honour of officially reopening the pub was given to one the long serving patrons of the pub, Peter Scatchard, who has used The White Hart as his regular watering hole for more than a decade.

With the renovation comes a new focus from the owners, who want to make The White Hart a lively community hot spot.

“We really wanted to push the idea of having live music at the pub so we incorporated that into the new design,” Miss Connor told The Gazette.

“We plan to have live music every weekend, and when it comes to Basingstoke Live we hope to do a type of fringe thing as well to give other musicians the opportunity to play.”

As part of the revamp, one section of the pub has been transformed into a communal space, which features a pool table, darts board and a smaller bar away from the main bar.

The idea is to create the feeling of an old local, where people come and everyone knows each other. Miss Connor added: “We want to get away from the chain pub feel.

Miss Connor and Mr Guiblin hope to build on The White Hart’s legacy and continue to serve the people of Basingstoke for many years to come.