THE Rising Sun, always one of the most popular pubs in Devizes, is to rise again on Good Friday.

The new landlord, Brian Foster, proprietor of Devizes Snooker Club, has reached agreement with owners Punch Taverns to reopen what was, until July last year, Munnelly's Bar in Southbroom Road, as a pub and nightclub.

Kennet magistrates approved the new plans and agreed a protection order on the premises until a full transfer of the licence can be arranged to Mr Foster.

Work will begin almost immediately to renovate the pub, with Punch Taverns investing £130,000 on the fabric of the building and Mr Foster spending £30,000 of his own money in a complete redecoration of the interior.

Mr Foster said: "I want this to be a high-quality nightclub where nice people will come and enjoy themselves. The windows will be replaced with double-glazed acoustic glass so there will be no sound outside the club to upset any neighbours."

The pub's opening hours will be from noon to 11pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with opening until midnight on Thursday and until 2am on Friday and Saturday. Sunday opening will be from noon to 10.30pm.

The name change from Munnelly's back to the Rising Sun is a response to local opinion.

Mr Foster said: "I don't remember it as the Rising Sun as I only came to the town seven years ago, but everyone tells me they prefer that name, so that is what it shall be called from now on."

The Rising Sun became Munnelly's Bar when former landlord Gary Enderby left and it was taken over by Bill Montgomery, who converted it to an Irish bar, the vogue for drinking clubs in the mid-1990s.

But as the Sun rises, the demise of the Snooker Club is at hand.

Mr Foster was granted planning permission to demolish the former bus garage and build five four-bedroom town houses on the Station Road site.

He has struggled for years to make the snooker club a paying proposition.

He said: "I have tried everything to get people to come in here. When I arrived there were 14 snooker tables but by then all the excitement about snooker had passed.

"Little by little I removed the snooker tables and replaced them with other forms of entertainment pool, video games, big screen TV and even ten-pin bowling. The place looks as good as it ever did but Devizes people will not come in here.

"I have spent £60,000 on this place over the years but I have not made the money back. There were some weeks I could not even take my own wages, because we were running at a loss.

"Things have improved slightly but it is still not making the money it ought to. People come from Bristol and say, if we had a place like this, it would be packed every night of the week.

"But Devizes people are funny, they do just what their parents always did which obviously doesn't include coming in here."

The snooker club was opened as the Royale Wiltshire Snooker and Social Club in 1991 by world champion Dennis Taylor. But it ran into financial problems almost immediately and was taken over by Colin Lee of Trowbridge Snooker Club who changed the name to Devizes Snooker Club.

Mr Lee sold out to Mr Foster so he could concentrate on managing the career of his snooker ace son, Stephen Lee, who has won a number of major world tournaments since.