A DEVELOPER who is aiming to transform a former Astley Bridge pub into a plush new restaurant and bar has released images of how he wants the new venue to look.

Nick Howcroft is working to transform the former Three Pigeons pub into an “iconic” place to eat and drink — as well as creating seven new apartments at the back of the Georgian building.

But after he bought the run-down Blackburn Road site in 2011, locals have become restless and questioned what work has taken place so far.

Mr Howcroft — who also runs the Henighans venues in Little Lever and Ainsworth — said a lot of work has been carried out internally on the apartments side of the project, which he hopes to complete in the autumn.

The restaurant and bar plan — which will feature an orangery entrance — will take a bit longer, with the aim of completing the build in 2017.

In a bid to placate and perhaps whet the appetite of future customers, he has offered up some artist’s impressions of how the inside of the premises could look when completed.

He said he understands why residents are eager to see progress, but insists that everything must be done correctly.

He said: “Sometimes people don’t realise that a lot of the main work taking place cannot be seen, we have been doing important structural and foundation work inside the new apartments.

“The first job is to get those apartments finished, which we hope to do by October.

“We will then start properly on the restaurant and bar in the New Year, but I want to do it right because I want this place to be extra special.”

He added: “There is no point in spending this amount of money unless we make this an iconic venue at the gateway to Astley Bridge and that will take a bit of time.

“But when it is finished it will be a place that people want to go and will come back to.”