Pub chain to replace bingo with £2m bar

PUB giant JD Wetherspoon is set to open a new £2.6 million bar on the site of a former bingo hall in Musselburgh this year.

The company has been granted permission for a drinks licence for the new bar, which will be built in the former Hayweights bingo hall.

Bosses at JD Wetherspoon are hoping to convert the building into an art deco-style pub in a move that will create up to 40 new jobs in the area.

It will see the hall, on Bridge Street, reopened for the first time in two years, when the bingo business was forced to shut down due to dwindling numbers caused by the smoking ban.

Local councillor Roger Knox said that he felt the bar would not "complement" the nearby Brunton Hall and that prices in the bar would be too low.

However, members of the licensing committee voted unanimously at a meeting last week to grant the drinks licence after hearing that the company would not be promoting happy hour deals and the pub would not disrupt local businesses and residents.

Bosses for the pub chain are now hoping to carry out renovations to the building over the coming months and expect to open the new bar in July.