Out with the new and in with the old: Northampton town centre pub reopens after lockdown with a rebrand

A Northampton town centre pub has reopened after the coronavirus lockdown with its original name - much to the delight of regulars.

The Market Tavern on Fish Street is now called The Fish, for obvious reason, as it used to be before the name change.

All the signs will be soon be changed with the pub getting a lick of paint and new artificial turf for the outside seating area, which has been busy since the reopening on Monday (April 19).

Manager Baiba Busmane told the Chronicle & Echo: "A lot of our customers are very happy we are called The Fish again as that's what they used to call it anyway!"

Pubs were allowed to reopen last Monday after the latest lockdown but Baiba and her team have had to wait while the refurbishments were completed.

But she said they are pleased to be back after being on furlough and the customers are happy to after so long of not being able to visit.

"There were some questions of whether we would open now or in May [when pubs are expected to be allowed to operate indoors] as we don't have a lot of space outside," she said.

"But we've worked on it and we now have extra tables in the garden with enough space between each other so we could open.

"We've also got some tables out the front so at the moment we have a decent amount of seats so no one should be disappointed."

Baiba said they have been well-supported since reopening and is expecting it to be even busier over the weekend, with them open until 12am on Saturday morning and 1am on Sunday morning.

"I think it's because everyone wants to go back to normal life and see their friends and family and relax," she said.

"Town has been very busy and the atmosphere has been great, especially when it's busy as it feels like how it used to feel."