Pictured above: Titanic Brewery owners (l-r) Dave and Keith Bott

An historic public house at the centre of Leek has been bought by North Staffordshire based Titanic Brewery.

The Roebuck Hotel, a Grade Two Listed 17th Century coaching inn, shut its doors around two months ago.

But Titanic - which has gained a reputation for reviving traditional style inns  - plans to restore the Roebuck, built in 1626, to its former central role on Leek's pub scene.

The Roebuck, in Derby Street, will be the sixth pub in Titanic Brewery's fleet. The Burslem company had just one pub until 2007 but has bucked a national trend of closures to open pubs in Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford and Stone.

Brewery Director Dave Bott said:  "The Roebuck is a stunning building and we are delighted to have acquired it.

"Its impressive timber framed frontage is matched by the wonderful feeling you get when you walk into a traditional town centre inn.

"Titanic Brewery has expanded from its Burslem base to open pubs in towns in and around North Staffordshire, so the beautiful market town of Leek was a natural next step.

"We have been opening pubs against a background of closures. But there is no magic formula, we pride ourselves on creating welcoming pubs which sell good local produce and are used by customers of all ages."

Mr Bott said the Roebuck was likely to open in October, 2011 following a refurbishment programme.

"We will carry-out a sympathetic programme of work in keeping with the historic town centre and the Roebuck's central place in Leek's history," said Mr Bott.

In recent times the Roebuck has been owned by a large pub company, Punch Taverns.