A RENOWNED Winchester pub is undergoing a £400,000 facelift in a bid to repair its damaged reputation.

The Wykeham Arms near Winchester College will replace carpets, emphasise its hidden historic elements and refurbish its 14 bedrooms.

The project, which will see the pub close for a fortnight from today (Thursday, August 12), will see extra seating added and new signage outside.

It comes 18 months after restaurant critic Giles Coren wrote a savage review saying the pub had “gone utterly down the khazi” and had turned into a “shameful clipjoint”.

Manager Jon Howard, who joined the pub last October in a bid to turn its fortunes around, said: “The refurbishment is something that’s been put off by previous people because it’s such a big upheaval.

“But we wanted to get it right, get it done and move the pub forward.

“It had been so fantastic in the past and it had fallen on hard times in the past few years. No one is in any doubt about that.

“But if we’re going to get back to where we were before we have got to do that with a building we can work with.”