TOWN centre pub and Smokehouse, Freemasons Knutsford, in Silk Mill Street, is set to have new owners following its closure.

Pub owners Ross Pollock and Chris Storey said they have had to close the doors of the premises for the last time after ‘three years of painstaking hard work, love, passion, enthusiasm and commitment’ by themselves.

“Whilst financially we cannot say that it has been a fulfilling endeavour for ourselves, we can say we have enjoyed the support of our guests from far wide,” they told the Guardian.

“This culminated in achieving the highest-ranking venue on Trip Advisor within Knutsford, at the top position out of 66 venues, and the even greater accolade of reaching number four out of 2,147 venues in Cheshire.

“We’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to our guests from over the years and the support of our colleagues, friends and family.

“Finally we would like to thank the historic building that we called home for the past three years – Freemasons has been standing tall since 1754.

“We hope that the love, care and refurbishment that we’ve delivered as custodians of this wonderful piece of history stands her in good stead for another operator to come in and love her with the same commitment, passion and enthusiasm that she and the wonderful people of Knutsford deserve.”

Chris and Ross said on the Freemasons Facebook page that the pub would be closed while entering a change of ownership.

They said: “A change of operator and a new lease of life is coming for our beloved pub, and we look forward to seeing it thrive into the future and its next chapter.

“Thank you all again for your support and some fantastic times over the years.”