AN award-winning chef who made it through to the latter stages of Professional Masterchef is set to take on the lease at the White Bull pub in Gisburn.

Simon Salt – the winner of the North West Young Chef of the Year award in 2008 who is originally from Oswaldtwistle – has promised to transform the historic pub into one of East Lancashire’s top places to eat.

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The pub is currently undergoing a £380,000 refurbishment, and has been closed since November last year.

It is due to reopen next month.

Simon, who has previously worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Wales and Spain, Northcote Manor and The Devonshire Arms, said: “I’ve been looking for the right pub for a long time, so I was delighted when I found the White Bull as it ticked all my boxes.

“It’s a lovely characterful pub in a great location.

“As the only pub in the village, it also has an important role to play with the community, which I’m looking forward to becoming a part of.

“The White Bull is going to be a real village pub where people can eat or drink or do both.

“It will offer a classic quality food menu done well at affordable prices with specials changing on a regular basis.

“I shall be sourcing ingredients from local suppliers and placing emphasis on the great produce in the area.”

The refurb will include the addition of four new letting rooms, as well as the addition of a function room for private hire for weddings, parties and business meetings.

Nine jobs are being created, including three chefs and six front-of-house staff.

Chris Jowsey, trading director of Star Pubs & Bars, which owns the pub, said: “We’re delighted that Simon has taken on the lease of the White Bull.

“Simon is undoubtedly a talented and visionary chef.

“His skills and the plans for the pub will be hugely beneficial for the village, broadening the pub’s appeal and ensuring its future at the heart of the community.”

Simon, 30, who attended Accrington and Rossendale College, was a quarter-finalist in Professional Masterchef in 2010, but was sent home after over-salting some beetroot cubes.

He was also a finalist in the Gordon Ramsay scholarship competition in 2007 and 2008.