The Queen pub, in Bradford city centre, reopened yesterday at virtually the precise moment Queen Elizabeth II became the oldest British monarch.

As the clock struck 5pm, the Queen, in Bridge Street, near the Interchange, threw open its doors again after being closed for nearly a month.

In a coincidence, the reigning Queen beat Queen Victoria's record at about 5pm yesterday, according to a Buckingham Palace spokesman.

The new licensee, Darryl Dronsfield, 35, admitted the timing of yesterday's re-opening launch party had not been planned.

"We've been so busy trying to get this place ready for the Christmas period that we hadn't seen the national news this week," he said.

"To be honest, we didn't know the Queen had reached her landmark at almost the precise time we opened up, but it's certainly a nice coincidence."

He said the pub would just be serving drinks until the New Year, but there are plans to begin serving food in January.

Beers on sale at the pub include Carlsberg, Fosters and Bombardier, with more brews due to come on tap in the new year.

Mr Dronsfield said: "We are going to try a DJ because there hasn't been any entertainment here recently.

"If there's some entertainment on and we stay open a bit later, we might be able to attract some of the people coming out of St George's Hall.

"I wanted to come here because it was a good price and I think it's got potential. It's in a very good location. It has been a really hard job to get it open for Christmas.

"We want to attract shoppers and business people from the town centre in the daytime and we want the older end and couples in the evenings."

Mr Dronsfield said the pub would be employing six staff initially, but said more could be taken on if the pub proved to be busy.

Mr Dronsfield, who is from Blackpool, has run a pub in Fleetwood for the last year.

Prior to that, he owned a sandwich shop for 12 years.

The Queen, owned by Enterprise Inns, has been shut for nearly a month since former licensee Kevin Davies left the business.