THE pub which became the unfortunate focal point for the riots will officially unveil a new future tomorrow.

The Duke of York at Duke Bar, Burnley, stands refurbished on the corner of Colne Road and Briercliffe Road with landlady Marie Coulston back at the helm of the pub which was gutted by firebombs at the height of the disturbances in June.

Licensee Marie told how her young sons screamed in terror and how two customers were knocked unconscious as stones pelted at the windows flew into the pub.

But the brave mum said she was glad to be back.

"I am hoping to put what happened far behind us," she added.

The pub was first targeted on Saturday, June 23, when windows were smashed but the family escaped before firebombs set the building alight on Sunday, June 24.

Marie, 31, had taken her young sons to stay with relatives in Darwen and left the building with her partner after they were warned the Duke of York had been pinpinted as a target for firebombs hurled amid the rioting which rocked the town.

The new-look pub which has been completely transformed with new bar, interior, soft furnishings, an opened up pool room and CCTV cameras. monitoring inside and outside.

She has also returned to the newly refurbished flat above the pub with her family and said: "I am really looking forward to welcoming the customers back.

"When they come inside their first reaction is going to be Wow! It might look the same from the outside but inside has been transformed.

"Avebury Taverns have been excellent and have spent a substantial sum in carrying out the work and I have been involved all the way along choosing what furnishings to go in and the style of bar.

"I am hoping to put what happened far behind us.

"We have always got on well with everyone in the community and that is how it should stay."

She is expecting a queue when she opens the doors at 11am because she said she has not been able to go out in Duke Bar without someone asking her when the pub was reopening.

Business development manager with Avebury Taverns Geoff Dixon, who is based in Buckinghamshire, said: "The pub has been transformed and the sizeable investment that Avebury Taverns has made has been well worth it.

"We are delighted that Marie will be returning to run the Duke of York for us, and we are all looking forward to making this one of the most successful pubs in the area."