ONE of Harle Syke’s most popular pubs has reopened four months after it closed.

The Hare and Hounds, in Burnley Road, has been taken over by Chris Toot-hill, who is also landlord at the Sun Inn, across the road.

The pub reopened in time for the Christmas per- iod, and Chris said he had taken it over because its closure was affecting the Sun.

He said: “It had been cl-osed for four months and we were noticing it was having an effect on the Sun.

“A lot of people come up for a night out using both pubs and, with one closed, not as many were doing that.

“The Hare and Hounds is more of a family pub and does bar snacks, while the Sun does sport and live music, so they complement each other well during the night.There are four pubs and a club in this area and they all seem to be doing fairly well.

“There is a good pub community in Harle Syke.”

The pub started doing bar snacks again last Sat-urday, and is also now doing a carvery on Sund-ays.

Chris said: “It was a rush to get the pub sorted ready to open for Christ-mas, so we haven’t had a chance to do much yet.

“We’ve started the bar snacks again now, and we’ll be doing the carvery every Sunday in the rest-aurant.

“We will also be looking to use the restaurant for functions, such as parties and weddings.

“We’ve had a good resp-onse so far since we re-opened. It was quite busy over Christmas, although New Year was quieter with a lot of people hav-ing house parties.”