A POPULAR pub in Whitehaven has come under new management. 

The Sun Inn at Hensingham has come under new management this month who hope to give the pub a new lease of life. 

Richard Taylor and Joanne Jeynes hope to keep the venue going from strength to strength and continue to keep it as one of the firm favourites for drinkers in the area. 

The Sun is one of three pubs on Hensingham, along with The Globe and the recently opened Ribton. 

Joanne said: "I just wanted to do something a little bit different, and it's been going okay so far. It was very busy on the first week and it's carried on much the same since then. 

"I think there's been people coming in the pub who haven't been in for a while.

"Because there was a temporary manager and it had been closed for a bit before that I think it had lost a bit of custom, but it seems to be going well. 

"All of the customers are great, the majority of them are local people but we do seem to get a few calling in on their way into town, they're all really nice and we haven't had any issues so far. 

"We just want to try and make it a bit more of a community hub, we're hoping to put on bingo, karaoke, and a BBQ in the summer.

"I'd also like to encourage families and children to come to The Sun, we'd like to make it a little bit more welcoming for our customers. 

"We've got our own football team and darts team; we did lose the pool team when the pub closed but we are hoping that they'll come back next season."

This is Joanne's first time running a pub as she explains that before this, she worked in business administration at Sellafield. 

However, around twenty years ago she did do some bar work in a pub. 

Both Richard and Joanne are local to Hensingham and have frequented the pub over the years.