A TOWN centre pub has been renamed the Duke of Lancaster in a salute to Pendle soldiers serving in the Army’s Lancashire regiment.

Signage was replaced at the former Shepherds Arms pub in Colne to coincide with Armed Forces Day.

Amber Taverns, which bought the pub from Timothy Taylor recently, opted to change the name to attract a different clientele.

Operations director Gary Roberts said: “When we purchased the property it was trading as a younger persons’ venue at weekends.

“We wanted to try to get back to a more traditional community pub, so I did some research and happened on Councillor Dorothy Lord, who had contacted us about Colne in Bloom.

“We had a few suggestions and I think Dorothy’s husband put forward the Duke of Lancaster after the regiment. I was in the TA so it seemed quite fitting, really.”

The pub, at the junction of Church Street and Market Street, was built on the site of the former Shepherds Arms around half a century ago.

It was a Tetley’s pub for a number of years before Timothy Taylor snapped it up around a decade ago.

Colne councillor Neil Butterworth, who spent 15 years in the Royal Pioneer Corps serving in the Falklands and Northern Ireland, welcomed the name change.

He said: “People forget about these soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

"They don’t realise how many people from Colne and Nelson are there.

“I can foresee the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment coming to Colne – that’s what I’m trying to achieve.”

John Webster, chairman of the East Lancs branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), said he did not normally support name changes, but he would make this exception.

He said: “Although I can’t recall the Duke of Lancaster having a connection with Colne, anything that supports our troops abroad is to be applauded.

“I would hope that the pub will be donating, say, 1p per pint to Help for Heroes.

“That would certainly help the support.”