A PUB ravaged by arsonists is reopening after an £80,000 transformation.

Specialist pub regeneration experts have bought the Foley Arms, in Fenton, and restored it to former glories.

Burton-based Harris Properties spent an estimated £100,000 buying the 19th century building from Admiral Taverns in late September.

Now trading partner Mick Bartholomew hopes the pub will reopen on Thursday.

He said: "It is a bad time for pubs but we have invested at the lower end of the market.

"We have always done that and are looking to purchase a lot more next year."

Firefighters had been called to the Foley Arms in July last year after arsonists stole a safe and set the kitchen alight.

The pub had just been refurbished and now the hostelry – which dates from shortly after the Napoleonic Wars in the 1820s – has been refitted again.

Mr Bartholomew said: "We look for older pubs that are a bit damaged but with a good customer base.

"There was fire damage and the kitchen was gutted and on a scale of one to 10, I would have given it an eight."

The pub, formerly known as the Cock Inn, will be freehold and have reasonably-priced beer and Sky TV.

Mr Bartholomew added: "It is a good quality drinking establishment with nice decor and good furniture."

Local historian Angie Stevenson, from Longton, who has been taking pictures of pubs closing across the region, feared the Foley Arms would not reopen after last year's fire.

She said: "I hope the people of Fenton realise how lucky they are that this pub has survived when the city is littered with empty pubs.

"I hope people will support it because the people who have taken it over are absolutely amazing."

The reopening has been welcomed by Potteries Pub Preservation Group (PPPG) spokesman Mervyn Edwards, who says it will give a boost to Fenton as a drinking destination.

He added: "Fenton is quite under-rated as a drinking area and this will add a fresh focus.

"It is quite a striking building on the main road and I am delighted it is reopening."