THE FAMILY of a former landlady have raised a toast to her after renaming the pub in her honour.

Susan Beeley managed the Toll Bar Inn on Chorley New Road, Horwich, for 17 years before her death last year.

Now, after an extensive renovation, the venue has reopened and will be known as Beeley’s Sports Bar.

Ms Beeley was a much-loved character in the pub and the job of running it has now passed down to her daughters Tina Baggaley and Joanne Smith.

Ms Baggaley and her partner James Bye who will take over as landlady and landlord of the bar.

Speaking after the reopening of Beeley’s on Thursday, Mr Bye said the family were delighted when the pub’s owners at Bravo Inns suggested the change in name.

“It’s a great honour,” he said.

“We were blown away when our bosses rang and asked us about changing the name.

“To honour Sue in that way was so special and it meant a lot to the family.

“She had been here that long that it was part and parcel of all of our lives.”

The bar has been closed intermittently for around 12 months but has been undergoing a £140,000 refurbishment over the last four weeks.

It has been fitted with new furnishings, carpets and paint, with a new bar, as well as screens and projectors in place around the interior.

There is a pool table and darts board and the pub will show a variety of live sporting events.

Mr Bye said the reopening event was a special day for the family as well as the bar’s regular visitors who knew Ms Beeley well.

He said “It was a very emotional day. At 6.45pm we had customers waiting outside and we made a little speech about Sue and cut the ribbon but we were getting messages an hour before the opening saying, ‘Come on open the doors’.

“When people saw the inside they were astonished because for the last four weeks we’ve done Thursday to Sunday with no carpet and no paint on the walls.

“The team who worked on the place have done so well.”

Beeley’s will be open from noon-11pm on Sunday-Thursday and noon-1am on Friday-Saturday.

It will continue to offer the same weekly events, with karaoke on Thursdays and a DJ on Saturdays.