THERE will be cheers to the beers in Dunfermline next week as one of its popular pubs reopens after a six-figure revamp.

The Commercial Inn, on Douglas Street, is set to welcome back thirsty regulars on Wednesday having closed last month for just over £100,000 worth of renovations, which they had hoped would be completed within three weeks.

Now run by its former bar manager, Andrew Black, the pub closed for work to begin on January 13.

Working with the Commercial’s owners, Hawthorn Leisure, the venue has been completely refurbished, and now boasts a freshly-painted exterior with new signage and lighting, a redecorated interior, and modernised toilets.

However, some features – including its timber flooring – have been retained and, although the changes have taken a little longer than he’d like, Andrew’s hoping they’ll raise spirits with the punters.

"Inside, the downstairs toilets – both ladies and gents – and lobby have been remodelled and is up to very modern standards. It's unrecognisable from what it was before," he said.

"On the ground floor, not much has changed; a lot of customers didn't want us to change much. It's had a fresh lick of paint, we've cleaned up the floor and had a bit of a tidy-up.

"We've got new products on the bar; there's more world lagers, we've expanded our craft ale range, and our cask ales are still a big seller. We've got more wines, gins and spirits as well.

"None of us wanted to be closed for this length of time but we've worked with Hawthorn (Leisure, the pub's owners) to make it the pub everyone wants.

"It's a community pub that belongs to everyone."

Andrew took on the award-winning boozer – whose tradition of selling quality cask ales saw it win the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Fife Pub of the Year award on five occasions – in November after its sudden closure in September sparked fears time had been called for good.

Since then, it has been a labour of love for Andrew, 36, to restore a place where he has worked for 18 years – and even met his wife, Suzanne – back to its former glory.

"It has been hectic," he added. "But trading has been good. We were busy over Christmas and it was good to see people in over the festive period with smiles on their faces."

The Commercial is one of more than 700 community pubs across Scotland, England and Wales that Hawthorn Leisure own, and its managing director of operations, Mark McGinty, added: “While we wanted to bring it slap bang into the 21st century, we were also keen – as was Andrew – to keep some of the things that regulars will know and recognise.

“So this isn’t just a case of ‘look at what we’ve done’, it’s also about what we haven’t done, to strike a balance between making The Commercial contemporary, while keeping as much as possible of its character and atmosphere.”