One of Britain's most southerly mainland pub has new landlords.

Boasting a prime location in one of the most UK's most popular tourist attractions, The Top House at The Lizard is currently undergoing a makeover by the couple who have taken over the tenancy ownership.

The pub and the nearby Witchball are the two most southerly pubs in mainland Britain.

Behind the bar when the Top House reopens will be new landlords Andy and Margaret Sutherland, who were previously a small holiday complex in the Dordogne, in France before returning to the UK for a change in careers.

Most recently Margaret has been an nurse, while Andy sold cyber security packages, but redundancy for Andy early last year left the couple looking for a change of direction once again.

Andy said: "We had already run our own hospitality business in France for many years, so a pub was a natural progression.

"Clearly in the Covid inflicted world that we currently live in the choice of location was always going to be of paramount importance and we couldn’t believe our luck when we found The Top House Inn.

"The Top House is in a fabulous location offering both local trade and visitors throughout the year. We have moved here from Norfolk, which is about as far away as you can go, but it is a very similar sort of place as Cornwall and Margaret’s family are actually from Cornwall – Veryan in fact."

Current lockdown restrictions have delayed the pub's reopening, but the couple are putting the time to good use by sprucing up the St Austell Brewery tied pub that has been closed to customers since last year.

"The pub itself was in a need of a refresh across the board and we have come to an arrangement with St Austell Brewery whereby the brewery will look after the external repair and renovation and we would attack the inside.

"We are currently right in the middle of the renovation and the building is a hive of activity both inside and out. We are painting, cleaning renovating and generally tidying the pub up whilst looking at getting the business into a place where we can open up when the government allows it," said Andy.

The couple want the pub to be the hub of the community again when they do get to reopen.

"We want the Top House to be the heart of the Lizard village and we are so looking forward to opening the doors and welcoming our new friends and neighbours into our fantastic pub," he added.

As before, the pub will still be offering letting accommodation from its eight rooms, and the couple are in the process of interviewing chefs.

The couple said: "Our vision is to have a small a la carte menu and an active specials board offering competitively priced food, featuring freshly and locally sourced seasonal produce.

"We are also looking to open up a 'Tea Rooms' and will be running coffee mornings baking our own cakes and making the ever popular cream teas.

"The pub will always be a pub, and as previously stated we want it to be the hub of the village.

"It its currently looking like we won’t be able to open until March but we will be ready to go as soon as we can.

"In the meantime we are looking forward to meeting our new neighbours and we will definitely be having an opening day when we hope to be able to invite the whole village in to have a drink with us."