A CHEESE and wine lounge bar has opened in Taunton in homage to a young man who died in tragic circumstances.

The Star Inn name has been revived at a former pub of that name tucked away in a side street off the town centre.

There was a soft opening last month almost exactly eight years to the day since Josh Clayton died.

And The Star Inn in its new guise is already proving popular with customers.

Josh's mother Tracey Clayton hit on the idea of the lounge bar after stumbling across a cheese and wine bar in Burnley.

She said: "We were always going to buy Josh his own pub once he finished travelling.

"Unfortunately we could never do that.

"But when we walked into that cheese and wine bar in a back street in Burnley, I thought, 'This is exactly what Taunton needs and Josh would have wanted'.

"People can come in, sit here, enjoy nibbles and drinks and while away the afternoon or evening."

Tracy has taken on the two-storey premises in Middle Street previously home to The Bank restaurant and added her own stamp through a major revamp.

Under general manager Myles Whitaker, who has held a similar position in a number of licensed premises in the county town, The Star Inn bar stocks a range of draught beers, cask ale, wines and spirits, as well as offering an extensive cocktail menu.

There's an extensive food menu including vegetarian options, black pudding and apple skewers, tiger prawns in garlic and chilli butter, potted beef and horseradish, Bombay and potato salad and plenty more.

If you're prefer, there are cheese or charcuterie boards, half and half boards and Italian antipasti.

And you can indulge in a bottomless brunch for £30 between noon and 4pm.

There are upstairs and downstairs lounges - a corner of the one on the ground floor has been likened to the café area in Friends.

Tracey said: "We've had compliments from people saying you previously had to go to Bristol, Bath or Exeter for something like this, while women say it's a place where they can come in on their own, a home from home. It's a no-stress meeting place."

The lounge bar, which employs six staff, is LQBQT and dog friendly. It is open Wednesday to Saturday from 12 noon to 11pm and on Sunday from 12 noon till late evening. It also caters for parties.

Josh, 23, disappeared after a party on Tresco island, in the Isles of Scilly, and his body was later found on the nearby island of Tean.

READ MORE: Family to continue fight following inquest ruling.

An inquest concluded he may have fallen after leaving the party and suffered a minor head injury, but Tracey says the precise circumstances of his death remain a mystery.

The Star Inn has was previously housed restaurant such as The Bank, The Sanctuary and The Middle Street Revival.

READ MORE: The Star Inn in Taunton 100 years ago.

Before that it was The Star Inn.

In the attached picture is Frederick Spratt, the landlord around 100 years ago.

Mr Spratt, whose grandson Paul Williams sent us the image, is pictures with his two daughters.