A pub in Blackburn is set to close its doors for three months as part of a six-figure refurbishment.

The Bees Knees, in Lord Street West, will close at the end of July and is not set to reopen until the end of October.

Nearby pub, The Sun, has also announced plans for a £120,000 exterior seating extension.

Bees Knees owner, Philip James, says £150,000 will be invested into transforming the venue so it will look similar to the company’s sister sites in Oldham and Darwen.

It will close on July 29 and it is hoped that the venue will reopen in time for Halloween weekend at the end of October.

Philip said: “We are going to invest £150,000 into [the pub] after a similar investment into Bees Knees Oldham has been a success.

Bees Knees DarwenBees Knees Darwen (Image: Weston Photography)

“The venue will look similar to Bees Knees Oldham and Bees Knees Darwen, with botanical décor.”

Philip said the Blackburn site was “starting to look tired” after seven years of trading.

He said: ”Work will take 10 to 12 weeks to complete. We hope it will revitalise Blackburn’s nightlife once again.

“The existing Bees Knees site has started to look tired after seven years and is in urgent need of an upgrade.

Bees Knees BlackburnBees Knees Blackburn (Image: Google)

“Bees Knees Darwen [which was upgraded last year] has been a massive success and it’s made it more urgent to improve the site in Blackburn to make sure the standards people expect of the brand are as high as possible.

“We hope to reopen October however a date will be given closer to the time of completion.”

Meanwhile, The Sun pub in Astley Gate has also announced plans to invest £120,000 in an exterior seating area extension.

The plans, drawn up by Thwaites Brewery and to be submitted to the council, aim to extend the front pedestrian area to create an outdoor seating area, very similar to what it had during Covid-19 pandemic restrictions with safety barriers or planters.

Phil Price, landlord of The Sun, said: " We are extremely happy with the plans submitted and hope for approval which will increase customer footfall.

“Blackburn is clearly making huge improvements in the town centre.

"We wish to improve the external area outside the pub to a safe high spec in-keeping with that of Blakey Moor Quarter.

“This will be at no cost to the council and fully funded by ourselves and the brewery."