A COUNTRY pub that has reopened aims to beat the recession – just as another one closes.

The Comet Hotel, at Hurworth Place, near Darlington, enjoyed a busy Easter Sunday as new manager Lynn Simpson set about reviving the fortunes of a local favourite.

Meanwhile, The Station, a minute’s walk around the corner, closed last week.

Mrs Simpson, 43, took over at The Comet three weeks ago, and said she was confident the pub would not share the same fate as its neighbour.

She said: “The pub was all boarded up when we came down to look at it, but we fell in love with the place straight away.

“We came down on the Monday and we were in by the Wednesday.

“It felt comfortable straight away and it still does.”

Mrs Simpson, who previously managed the Mandale pub, in Thornaby, near Stockton, said: “A lot of people talk about what the pub was like years ago.

People really love it.

“It does not worry us that The Station has recently closed. We have been run off our feet so far, and it is getting busier and busier every day.”