A BURNLEY couple with a background in East Lancashire's pub trade have taken on their biggest challenge yet -- as new licensees at a run-down pub in Todmorden.

Landlady Angela Butler, 26, and her partner, Brian Mackie, 47, have ploughed their own money into transforming the Black Swan, in Burnley Road, after deciding to make it their new home.

But on first impressions it seemed a far cry from the Ram Inn, Cliviger, where Angela had been assistant manager for four years and the Sparrow Hawk in Fence, which she ran more recently.

Brian, who is settling into his new role as barman and head bouncer, said: "It was quite a shock for Angela when she saw what was going to be the living quarters and it's fair to say that a few tears were shed. But we had a quick chat, liked the area and decided to give it a go.

"At first she thought it was disgusting and walked out and I thought 'brilliant it's on its knees and it can only get better.' We are very determined. We have signed for 21 years so we are here for the duration."

The couple's first job was to install scaffolding to enable them to clean the outside of the building and to add a new coat of paint.

They also plan to create a specific dining area, upgrade the accommodation above the pub and totally redecorate.

The pub is situated halfway between the train station and the bus station, and is across the road from the market, where a considerable amount of money is being invested by Calderdale Council, the newly-created Todmorden Pride and Todmorden Town Council.

Liverpool-born Brian, 47, who is happy to swap mixing cement as a self-employed builder for pulling pints, said both he and Angela were excited by the challenge and were settling in well.

He said: "We are totally refurbishing it. The pub has been grossly mistreated over the years, so the biggest part was the cleaning. We have the contractors in for three weeks now. They have been doing the plumbing, the electrics, the kitchen should be fully refurbished and up-and-running in a couple of weeks and we are redecorating the bar area.

"A few months down the line we aim to start redecorating the upstairs rooms. The main thing was to get back the old customers who had stopped coming in. But we found that in the first week of us taking over they started to reappear.

"We have had a lot of people coming in asking for accommodation and food but, unfortunately, we are not ready for that yet. We hope to have accommodation available within about two or three months."

The pub will remain open while the work in progress.