Work has started on a £530k refurbishment of Mangos in Falmouth with the pub and club due to re-open in late February, with the creation of 25 jobs.

The popular 550 capacity venue has been closed since March 2016, but is having new life breathed into thanks to Star Pubs & Bars and new operators Geoff King and Darren Parish.

The Mangos club will remain upstairs and is being sensitively refurbished to create a modern music venue while the downstairs bar will become a relaxed casual dining venue, to be re-named The Church Street Bar & Kitchen. Both will be open until 2.30am.

A new sound and light system is being installed to improve the sound quality for clubgoers but to protect neighbouring residents, the operators have liaised closely with the environmental health officer and brought in an acoustic engineer to soundproof the premises.

Inside, the club will have a new industrial look and feel with exposed brick and recycled wood panels. The downstairs will have a laid back modern urban café atmosphere with a pipe grey coloured décor and splashes of colour in the artwork and soft furnishings.

Outside, Mangos is being completely overhauled, painted in smart grey with new atmospheric lighting and signage.

Geoff has extensive hospitality experience having run bars, pubs and clubs in Cornwall for last 12 years and Darren also runs local accountancy firm, Bright Future Accountancy.

"We’ve been wanting to open somewhere in Falmouth for some time as it is up and coming and so are delighted to have taken on Mangos, an iconic Cornish venue," said Geoff.

“Mangos has always been a popular place for people to relax and enjoy themselves. We want to keep it that way, just make it better, and cater for everyone, local residents and businesses, visitors and of course the many students in Falmouth.”

Tim Galligan, operations and sales director at Star Pubs & Bars, said: “Geoff and Darren’s local knowledge and combined hospitality and management experience, make them ideally suited to run a large venue such as Mangos.

"We wanted to ensure the right people took it on due to the nature of the venue and the high regard with which it is held in the town. Falmouth is a dynamic increasingly desirable place to live which deserves a great bar and club.”