THE brother of TV comic Jason Manford has taken over a historic pub in Oswaldtwistle and vowed to give the area a ‘new history’.

Colin Manford and Emma Kearney are the new landlord and landlady of the Black Dog in Union Road and are set to open the doors later this month.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The pair, who are both stand-up comedians, are regular performers at Manford’s Comedy Club at Oswaldtwistle Civic Arts Centre.

The couple got engaged earlier this year on stage at the comedy club’s birthday party at the civic theatre in April.

Three months later the pair got married, also at the civic theatre.

Mrs Kearney, 36, said: “The pub has been around for nearly 200 years, we don’t want it gone, we want to give it a new history.

“We have so many different ideas for the pub, we want to do activities for older and vulnerable people, as well as being an old-fashioned boozer.

“It’s a very special community and people who live in the area understand how special it is.”

Mr Manford, 31, said: “We’ve both got a lot of love for Oswaldtwistle.

“We started to come a couple of years ago when we were both at the comedy club.

“We have the idea of making it a pub for the community, bringing a lot of entertainment to town, with karaoke and quizzes.”

The doors to the pub closed on Thursday, October 6, before the couple were interviewed for the pub the same day, and were offered it the following day by Thwaites.

They will officially receive the keys on Monday, October 24, before they host their grand opening party on Saturday, October 29.

Mrs Kearney, a former mental health nurse, said: “Thwaites have been absolutely brilliant, the support has been great. They really made this process easier for us.” “It’s lovely the amount of support we’ve been getting in general.”

Cllr Peter Britcliffe who represents the ward where the pub is on Hyndburn Council, has welcome the new owners with open arms.

He said: “I’m delighted that the Black Dog is not going to be dark for much longer.

“It’s very encouraging and good to know that another Oswaldtwistle pub will have lights on this winter.

“I am pleased to hear the owners have some very ambitious plans to make the pub work and I wish them all the best.”