The Black Horse pub in Sidmouth has been taken over by new owners.

Ali Pilkington and her son Zak Davies will be running the pub from now on, having taken on a five-year tenancy.

They will be opening on Friday, March 29.

Ali told the Herald she's looking forward to returning to life behind the bar. She used to run The  Three Tuns in Honiton, where she was nominated as Publican of the Year in 2018, but she took a couple of years off to work as a hairdresser.

However, she missed the licensing trade, and soon decided she wanted to find another inn to manage.

"I'm still a publican at heart," she said.

Ali trained her son Zak to work alongside her, and they were looking for their new premises when the opportunity to run The Black Horse 'came out of the blue'. 

The pair plan to develop the pub's food offering and have plenty of live music. The first live act will be the Blondie tribute act, Bottled Blondie, on Saturday, March 30.

To keep up to date with what's on at The Black Horse, visit their Facebook page.