A TRADITIONAL pub has re-opened after a refurbishment to ensure it retained its old world feel.

Former ambulance control room communications manager Mike Leonard and his wife Audrey are the new licensees at the Dunn Cow in Durham.

Mike has put £20,000 into restoring the old English style of the Old Elvet pub, popular with students, prison officers, prison visitors and even the odd tourist.

Their first task was to upgrade the back room of the pub without losing its traditional style.

"There was a refurbishment in the back room in the 1970s with mock paneling and a stone clad chimney which over the years had become dowdy, dull and drab.

"I gave the contractors the brief that they had to recreate the look of the popular front room in the back. We have had softwood beams, with the same pattern as the original ones, put in with panelling in between and we found a hidden floor in a very old part of the building which we have left exposed and polished."

They have also restored the Friday lunchtime food of home made pies and mushy peas, while Audrey has prepared a wide range of dishes for other times.