A FAMILIAR face in Yarmouth is back behind the bar of the King's Head.

The pub has been closed since the start of the year but has now reopened as part of the Character Inns group.

Jolie Taylor, 23, is the new manager having started work, aged 16, as a waitress just up the road at another Character Inns pub, The Bugle Coaching Inn.

Jolie, from Newport, attended the former Cowes High School, and said: "I'm so happy to be back in Yarmouth, it feels like I have come home."

After rising to supervisor at The Bugle, she moved to The Yachtsman, Cowes, becoming assistant manager and then manager last year.

She added: "It's lovely to see the locals in and around town again as well as all The Bugle staff, it's absolutely magical and an amazing opportunity for me. It's a real challenge but very exciting."

Rob Benwell, director of Character Inns, said: "We've given the pub some TLC with new furniture and bric-a-brac to get us through the season.

"But in November, we will close it for a refurb and make it table service as well as changing the menus to make them more specialised with Island produce and more high end.

"It will be a different concept to The Bugle."

Another West Wight pub, The New Inn, Shalfleet, is close to finishing a refurb but still waiting for its gas supply to be reconnected before it can reopen.

A spokesman said: "We're hoping the pub will be open sooner, rather than later, it's just a question of having the gas meter fitted."

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