After months of speculation, JD Wetherspoon has confirmed it will be opening a pub in Huntingdon.

It is hoped it will open before the end of 2014 and create about 40 jobs, the pub chain said.

The company is in the final stages of acquiring the Old Post Office and George Hall, in George Street, Huntingdon, the St Neots commercial property consultant Barford + Co told The Hunts Post.

On Friday, Barford director Phil Halmshaw said: “Contracts were exchanged the previous Friday for the sale of the property to Wetherspoon.

“Completion will take place before Christmas. The property has been sold unconditionally, and it is understood that J D Wetherspoon will be submitting planning and listed building applications in the spring of 2014.”

Mr Halmshaw added: “After 10 ten years of decline, there is now a genuine prospect that these impressive buildings will be restored to their former glory.”

Wetherspoon is understood to want to link the 4,623 sqft Grade II-listed Old Post Office to the George Hall, which sits on the corner of the site, to create a single large pub and dining area covering about 3,500 sqft.

The plans would also include demolishing the former sorting office to create an outdoor patio and garden area.

Alan Matthews, a director of Barker Storey Matthews (BSM)’s which represented Wetherspoon in the transaction, said: “We are pleased to have been able to advise Wetherspoon in this transaction, and indeed for this to have been brought to a conclusion within a very short timescale.

“It is common knowledge that the company wished to open a new pub in Huntingdon for some time, and they had made a bid for this property some years ago. It is therefore particularly pleasing to have been able to assist the company in achieving its objectives in the local area.”

A spokesman for Wetherspoon confirmed that contracts had been exchanged.

She added there had been no movement in its plans to open a Wetherspoon in St Ives.