A NEW independent pub will open in Hereford tonight in the spot where Watercress Harrys used to be.

Robert Gordon Bennett is opening Gordon Bennetts in St Peters Street in Hereford and wants to create a beer festival-feel each weekend.

Watercress Harrys closed in January, 2015 and has been empty ever since.

Mr Bennett, 48, was a bank manager at Barclays in Hereford and took the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy to do something completely new.

He said: “I wanted a total change and it is a total change. I purchased the Watercress Harrys building and spent the last four months pulling it apart and putting it back again.”

Gordon Bennetts will focus on real ales with three Wye Valley brews on tap. There is also a “cask wall” which will offer eight cask ales and will change regularly.

Mr Bennett said the bar also has a late licence until 3am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

He said: “It is somewhere our customers can have a late drink without going to a nightclub.”

The bar will offer food during the day once it is up and running.