Fears over the fate of one of Bradford's historic pubs have been allayed.

Campaigners had voiced concern about the future of the Cock and Bottle in Barkerend Road, Bradford, which has been closed and partly boarded up for several months.

It has endured a chequered history in recent years. In 1996 when the then landlord Peter Tooley was stabbed to death by his wife Marjorie after a row.

It was also closed and boarded up in 1991 when the then licensee Seamus McGuire walked out.

But the company which owns the Victorian building revealed today that it is to be re-opened this autumn.

Solihull-based Enterprise Inns, which bought the Cock and Bottle from Tetley's, hopes it will be back in business within two months.

Richard Holden, a leading member of the Bradford branch of real ale campaign group CAMRA, welcomed the news.

"It's good to hear. I think what they need to do now is get a range of beers on so that it will attract people who appreciate real ale," he said.

The Cock and Bottle date back to 1747 when an inn is first reported to have been licensed on or near the site of the present pub. Sir Thomas Fairfax's wife is also said to have been captured by Royalist forces in 1643 on the spot where it now stands, but a long-standing myth that there was a secret passage from the pub to Bradford Cathedral was exposed recently by historians.

It appears to have been completely rebuilt in about 1820 at the time of the building of Otley Road and the name Cock and Bottle was first used in 1822.

The pub is thought to have been the last home-brew house in Bradford and was named the city's first Tetley's Heritage Inn in 1984 in recognition of its historic origins. It is noted for its authentic Victorian atmosphere and stained glass windows.

The latest issue of Tyke Taverner, the magazine produced by the Bradford branch of CAMRA, highlights the history and current condition of the Cock and Bottle.

In a front page article, its editor, Dave Boothroyd writes: "The Cock and Bottle has got so much potential to add to its history and to its splendid interior that it must not be allowed to die."

Dave Campey, regional manager for Enterprise Inns, said today that capital investment plans were currently being approved by the company and he hoped the pub would be open again within eight weeks.

"I would stress that we will not be changing the building structurally but spending money to bring the fixtures and fittings back up to scratch," he said.

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