With a beloved 150-year-old south Essex pub set to re-open very soon, here is everything we know about the plans.

The Woodmans Arms, in Rayleigh Road, Thundersley, shut its doors suddenly in October and has remained closed since.

Owners had categorically denied rumours which had begun to circle on social media earlier this year that the once-popular pub had been sold off and would be transformed into a Tesco supermarket.

Now, the brewery behind the historic pub - Star Pubs and Bars - has revealed this week that it is set to reopen in “early spring”.

The firm is currently planning to open the pub under a temporary management system before starting the recruitment process to find a new “long-term” landlord.

The pub will be re-opened in early spring, potentially as soon as late March, after internal compliance checks are completed.

It is currently uncertain what these internal compliance checks are, but eager punters hold out their hopes for an internal refurbishment ahead of the pub's re-opening.

The previous landlord announced on Facebook that they would be leaving the pub, after operating it since March 2020, stating only that it was “time to move on to pastures new”.

The Woodmans dates back to 1874 and has been a pub consistently throughout that time.