A historic Hereford pub has been given the go-ahead to be refurbished and have an extension added.

Under the ownership of Black Country Traditional Inns, the grade II-listed Orange Tree Inn in King Street in the historic heart of the city will be “a real ale public house with limited food offering”.

The company’s application says the pub “has not traded successfully for some period of time”, but that the alterations it proposes “will enable it to become more viable”.

The existing catering kitchen would be removed and the upper two floors of the building made into an expanded manager’s flat.

A “small” timber-framed extension to the rear would meanwhile increase the trading area, while a working fireplace would be reinstated in the existing bar.

The front of the building would remain unchanged.

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But a plan to relocate the stairs up to the first floor and down to the cellar was dropped after it drew concerns this would harm the building’s heritage.

Herefordshire Council’s planning officer concluded the proposal “would conserve the building's significance and character”.

However an archaeological study of the area to be occupied by the pub extension was made a condition of the permission.

The company’s head of pubs Graham Manwaring said work to “strip out” the pub begins this week, with a planned reopening in early to mid-September. He confirmed the pub would keep its name.

“We continue to invest in pubs that have become a bit neglected,” he said. “The real ale market has continued to grow and is a good one to be in right now.”

An “Orange Tree Inn” is recorded at the site as early as 1790. Much of the building's original timber framing survives.