THE landlord of a historic Bolton pub has launched a campaign to get the Grade II listed building modernised.

Dennis Holmes and his wife Christine have raised a petition signed by more than 200 people in support of their plan to make the three-room Finishers Arms into one room.

Councillors on the town’s planning committee will decide whether two internal walls of the Church Road, Smithills, pub can be removed following objections from the Conservation Office.

The landlord and landlady, backed by pub company Punch Taverns, had plans to get the refurbishment work on the 200-year-old pub done in October.

But following a visit from a Stockport-based conservation officer, who has jurisdiction over the Bolton area, objections were raised on grounds that the alterations would alter the integrity of the building.

Mr Holmes now says if the application to remove the walls is refused it could threaten the future of the pub and force him and his wife out.

“The planned investment is more than £100,000,” he said. “Competition in the pub trade is fierce and other pubs in this area have been refurbished.

“To be honest, I don’t understand what the conservation officer is objecting to. I can’t imagine any Japanese tourists coming along here and taking pictures of two internal walls and three doorways.

“And they certainly won’t be interested in taking external pictures if it becomes boarded up and empty, which is a possible consequence of refusal.”

Mr and Mrs Holmes are aiming to increase their food offer in the pub as well as expand the programme of live entertainment in the pub by opening it up.

“Having three separate rooms detracts from the atmosphere,” said Mr Holmes. “People want to be round the bar where it is lively, but that area is too small and often cramped while the other rooms are empty.

“The pub is a grand old lady, but it needs a bit of TLC (tender loving care). There would also be other advantages in the alterations, such as wheelchair access.”

The couple have been running the pub for 12 years, and Mr Holmes said he has invested much of his personal savings into it.

“It’s not just as a business that we want to this. The people who come in here are our friends and we want the pub — which is a community pub — to be here for the next 20 years.”

The application to remove the internal walls comes up for consideration at Bolton planning committee meeting on Thursday.