THESE are the first photos of the Perkin Warbeck pub, in East Street, Taunton, following a £1.4 million rfit.

Customers will notice several changes when they return to The Perkin Warbeck once the doors open again at 8am on Tuesday - after its three-month closure.

The premises have been redecorated throughout, with new carpets and dining booths and banquet seating installed, as well as new lighting, artwork and a feature fireplace.

An outdoor upper terrace roof-top garden has been added to the rear of the pub over the pavement cafe following the demolition of part of the upper floor, offering views overlooking St Mary Magdalene Church.

Plans for a covered undercroft with seats at the front were dropped due to cost.

Behind the scenes, the kitchen has been extended and upgraded, to include pizza ovens, and new staff facilities added.

New front of house self-service coffee machines have also been installed and the bar has been removed from the rear of the pub.

The project has created an additional 35 full and part-time jobs, while existing staff, who were deployed to other Wetherspoon pubs during the refit, are returning The pub, which originally opened in June 1997, has been closed since mid-July.

Pub manager Luke Bakewell, who will miss next week’s re-opening as he will be away on holiday, said he hopes a group of Somerset cricketers will join in the evening’s celebrations.

He said: “Wetherspoon has spent £1.4 million on the pub, creating more jobs for local people and providing further investment in the town.

“I am looking forward to welcoming customers back into the new look pub and we are confident they will be impressed by the transformation of the building.”

Staff are putting the final touches to the improvements following the building work and the building will be unveiled to the public in the coming days, including a special VIP unveiling event.