Brewers Adnams are planning to invest in improvements at the popular Greyhound pub in Ipswich.

Ipswich Star: The Greyhound landlord Dan Lightfoot says the Ipswich food and drink pub is bucking the trend of pub closures Picture: SU ANDERSONThe Greyhound landlord Dan Lightfoot says the Ipswich food and drink pub is bucking the trend of pub closures Picture: SU ANDERSON

The owners have applied to Ipswich Borough Council for planning permission for a ground floor extension, providing new kitchens for the pub, which dates back to Victorian times.

It is positive news for the pub trade in the town centre, which has been hit by a number of pub closures recently.

The Greyhound - a former Adnams pub of the year - has been at the centre of the leisure trade for more than 170 years.

Today it is open seven days a week, and is well known for its pub meals.

A spokesman for pub owners Adnams said: "This is a great community pub and we want to make it better for the customers of Ipswich who use it.

"We want to work with the local community, which is important for us."

Landlord Dan Lightfoot has been in charge for more than eight years.

He said: "We are still a very busy pub, bucking the trend if you like. We are pleased and very excited by this.

"We are looking forward to it happening, once planning permission has been granted.

"We are a busy pub for food and for drink.

"This extension will bring a bigger kitchen, and helps us to improve what we already doing, going forward. It will be good for the pub.

"We have a good food and drink trade.

"It is down to the hard work of all the staff and the friendly and warm welcome they give to our customers.

"We have a warm welcome for everybody.

"We will still be offering the classic dishes off our menu.

"We want to keep on doing what we do well here."

They had already been working through re-decorating the pub, during last year and into this year, he added.

The Henley Road pub has been at the heart of the community since at least 1840, when the landlord is recorded as John Snelling.

Henley Road didn't exist them, and the pub was in Globe Street.

The pub's name is thought to have come from the warship, HMS Greyhound, which was built in Ipswich in 1702 by Hubbards.

It was one of the closest pubs to the Ipswich Garrison and then a centre for staff from the Anglesea Road Hospital to socialise.

The general hospital, and the nurses' home, were opposite and many medical staff lived nearby.