A POPULAR club that looked to have closed its doors for the final time was reopening tonight after a £200,000 renovation.

Despite a 75-year history, the Inglemire Club in Inglemire Lane, north Hull, closed last year.

It was feared the club would make way for a residential development, but now a group of four men who live in north Hull have teamed up to refurbish the once dilapidated boozer.

Brothers Dale and Ian Baron, together with David Watling and Nigel Dixon, working under the joint venture of 3D Leisure, stripped the building throughout, put in new carpets, new wooden panels and new low-energy lighting.

They have also completely renovated the bar, with clean, modern, stainless steel and solid wood.

A 400sqft outside smoking area is being planned and the building is air-conditioned throughout.

Dale Baron, who has skills as both a joiner and a cabaret singer, was compére at the club for five years.

He told the Mail he and his three partners had worked evenings and weekends for the past four months.

He said: "We've put a lot of time and effort in to getting the place up and running, blood, sweat and tears have gone into it.

"It's been hard work, but we think it looks really good and hopefully the punters will too.

"We want to keep the traditional club spirit, but modernise it to bring new people through the door.

"We have modern decor and serve modern drinks, so we will hopefully become somewhere where a lot of younger people will come, maybe before they go into town for a night out.

"We have spent a lot of money getting this right and we are hopeful it will be a success."

The entrepreneurs have built removable partitions for a function room – which caters for up to 120 people – and already have 18 bookings, three of which are weddings.

They have also planned entertainment for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and will show live football throughout the week.

Snooker, pool and darts teams are being set up and the club has 200 people signed up for its £2 annual membership.