A PLANNING application has been lodged that could see the closed Pizza Express in Ludlow town centre return to its past life as a pub.

Pizza Express closed at the end of last year and will not be reopening.

But now Oakman Inns and Restaurant has lodged an application with Shropshire Council that could see the building back in business as a pub but not before more than £2million has been spent on the building.

In an era when pubs have been closing all over the country it would run against a national trend.

The new pub, if it opens, is likely to be serving food as well as pulling pints and pouring drinks and so will be more competition competing for the money of customers.

It is envisaged that the pub would be able to serve almost 200 customers with 60 of them outside.

There is an expectation that it will provide more than 20 new full and part time jobs for people from the town and surrounding area, albeit at a time when the hospitality sector has been having problems recruiting staff.

The sector has also been particularly badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic but now the hope is that the tide has turned.

There was considerable consternation when Pizza Express moved into the town as there was a feeling amongst some people that it was another national chain coming into a town that had prided itself upon local independent businesses.

Oakman Inns and Restaurants in a relatively small chain based in Hertfordshire.

According to its website the first Oakman Inn opened its doors in 2007.

The business was founded by entrepreneur and Chairman Peter Borg-Neal.

In 2021, Oakman announced a partnership with Tree-Nation, a not-for-profit organisation who support and protect biodiversity through reforestation and conservation projects across the world.

If planning permission is granted it is not known when work on the alterations would start or when it would be able to open