The Lock Vaults pub in Hoole, Chester, celebrates its first birthday today (12 December). 

To mark the occasion, the team will be giving out a festive freebie to anyone who comes and buys a drink. 

Co-director, David Keith, told Chester Nub News: "We're a year old today. If you're out and about, then pop in for a drink and we'll give you a free mince pie.

"We had a very, very busy start when we opened. Since then, I think we have become an important part of the local community.

The modern interior of the pub boasts TVs for watching sports (Image via: The Lock Vaults)

"We have weekly quizzes, monthly live music and DJ nights. 

"We're very popular with the sport, especially football, and we're very dog friendly.

"We're looking forward to another year and making more friends in the area."

For David, the highlight of the first year was witnessing the local community coming together to support the business. 

He said: "The best bit was when we opened and how welcoming everyone was, how they came to see the pub. 

"It had been closed for six years and it was completely refurbished so I think people are very pleased with how it looks."

The Chester pub works with various charities, such as the Hospice of the Good Shepherd (Image via: The Lock Vaults)

The previous owners had suddenly closed the pub in January 2018, due to the building being 'structurally unsafe'. 

The pub is now owned by Star Pubs and Bars, a Heineken company, and underwent an extensive refurbishment in 2022 and 2023 with a £400,000 investment. 

David Keith and Carl Burleigh, the pub's directors and licensees, took over the building and transformed it into a modernised and inviting space. 

They stripped the once run-down pub, which was boarded-up and full of graffiti, creating an inviting space with stylish new internal decor, a working fire and old photographs of Chester on its walls. 

The Lock Vaults works with various charities, such as the Hospice of the Good Shepherd, to promote doing good within the local community.