Sidmouth’s Black Horse Inn is to remain closed after the owner of the lease decided to retire.
Lynette Helmer said she and her son Francois had had many happy years at the pub in Fore Street, but now was the right time to ‘call it a day’.
She said: “We didn’t think it would be worthwhile opening until we could open properly, and I saw it as a really good opportunity to retire now as I’m over 70.
“We’ve had a lot of years there, with such fun, and made so many friends, and had such a good time.”
But she said it had been ‘quite a struggle’ since Carinas nightclub closed, with the loss of so many young customers on Friday and Saturday nights.
“I didn’t think it was going to go back to how it used to be, so I decided to call it a day.”
She thanked her customers for ‘so many good times and so much wonderful support, especially the people who followed all the bands, every Friday and Saturday’.
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