AN EMPTY pub will get a modern makeover after a national chain announced it was buying the site.

A spokesman for JD Wetherspoon confirmed the company was in the process of buying the former Hog's Head in Frederick Place, Weymouth.

Last orders were called there earlier this year after owner the Laurel Pub Company announced it would be one of 100 pubs the chain was closing nationally.

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddy Gershon said the company would be spending hundreds of thousands of pounds modernising the Hog's Head site and would try to have it open before the end of the year.

The new pub will be the second Wetherspoon to open in the town after the Swan in St Thomas Street.

Mr Gershon said: "The Swan has been going in the town for a number of years and has been very successful.

"We've always been keen to have more Wetherspoons open in Weymouth.

"This is a good opportunity for us to buy a pub which has, unfortunately, had to close down.

"The site already comes with planning and licensing permission and we will be redeveloping it to our own style and specifications.

"We will try our best to have all that work done in a couple of months so that we may be able to open before the end of the summer season."

He added: "We will be looking at about 30 to 35 full and part-time jobs being created in the process.

"The redevelopment costs will inevitably run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

"The new pub will look different to the Swan and will probably be more modern looking.

"Weymouth is a large town with a large indigenous population.

"I think the new pub will certainly be a welcome new addition to the town centre and its economy."

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's employment and prosperity spokesman, Coun Geoff Petherick, said: "This is all great news for the town."