Pub used by young Prince William to reopen

The Tunnel House originally closed five and a half years ago

A "unique" and "well loved" Gloucestershire pub, used by a young Prince William, is set to reopen.

The Tunnel House near Cirencester was built in the late 1700s to house labourers building Sapperton Canal Tunnel, on the Thames and Severn Canal. It was once England's longest canal tunnel.

The pub sits on the Bathurst Estate and famously played host to royals because of its proximity to King Charles III's private residence Highgrove House, near Tetbury.

The pub closed in 2020, but will reopen in spring 2026 under the ownership of the landlord of nearby pub The Bell.

The digging of the two-mile canal tunnel took five years and finished in 1789

Historically, boaters would travel through the tunnel by "legging", which meant lying on their backs and walking their legs along the ceiling.

New landlord Peter Austen said: "We've had an outpouring of support from people on social media when they've heard it's going to be reopening because their grandparents have known it, their parents have known it."

The plan is to return the pub to how it was in the past, with a nod to Victorian and Georgian times.

"We've got a huge job in front of us because the pub is now derelict. A huge job, but we'll do it," Mr Austen said.