A HIGH-END restaurant and cocktail bar is set to open in St Neots next month.

Richard Howells has been renovating the former Q Sports Bar in Priory Lane for the past year and is putting the final touches to The Oast House Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge ready for its opening in September.

The restaurant will serve locally-sourced seasonal produce and there will also be a fine dining menu. In the cellar there is a selection of vintage wines.

In the cocktail lounge, Mr Howells, who moved to St Neots three months ago, has hired qualified “mixologists” to pour the drinks.

Mr Howells, 45, said: “My history is in transportation really so nothing to do with this type of industry, so I have given it a fresh pair of eyes.

“The bar is unique as a lot of money has been put into it to move it from a dark, dingy and damp place to a nice venue to visit. We have given the building a complete revamp, people won’t be able to recognise it.

“The name was easy and we named it after the building as we have kept the original features of the Oast House as part of the work.”

He added: “It’s just a good opportunity to bring something new to St Neots.

“I want to bring a bit of London, where I have moved from, to St Neots by offering good customer service, which is really important to me, as well as premium drink and food.

“It’s a premium restaurant and cocktail lounge with lots of comfortable seating so people can relax.

“It’s not a place where you can go and get a pint of beer for £2 or cheap shots to get drunk on, so we won’t have the anti-social behaviour that goes along with that and people can come along and not feel ­threatened.”

Mr Howells said that he had not yet set an opening date in ­September.