A Town centre pub is set to change hands and undergo a revamp because it is ‘too formal’ for Weston.

Butcombe Brewery is about to sign on the dotted line to purchase The Imperial Brasserie in South Parade and bosses say they hope to ‘pubify’ the restaurant and bar.

Brothers Chris and Mike Sanders invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in revamping the d�cor, flooring, furnishings and services when they bought The Imperial in 2010.

Butcombe Brewery managing director Guy Newell says he plans to close the venue on March 5 make some changes which will restore it to its pub roots as ‘The Imp’ before reopening on March 9.

Mr Newell said: “It has been beautifully done and is a fantastic building, but it cries out to go back to being a good quality pub, but still with high quality food.

“We hope to change the flooring, lighting and furniture to be able to move back to more of a pub feel.

“I don’t think the word ‘brasserie’ is right for Weston. At the moment the place is too formal for Weston. It’s a fantastic facility and we’d like to fill it with people.”

Chris Sanders said: “Butcombe is a quality operation and I think The Imperial will go from strength to strength under it. We previously sold the Queen’s Arms in Bleadon to Butcombe, even though it wasn’t the highest bidder, because we knew it would do a good job with it.

“The Imperial is one of Weston’s high quality buildings and we are pleased to have played a part in saving it - when we took it on, one of the other interested parties wanted to turn it into a lapdancing club.”

Some of the staff will stay on at the venue and Rose Cunningham and Steve Beasley, who run the Butcombe pub, The Woolpack in St Georges, are being brought in to help manage it.