Renovation work is being carried out on a former pub in Swindon's town centre that has been closed for many years.

Scaffolding has been set up outside a Bridge Street building near the British Heart Foundation charity shop.

Back in June, the Adver spoke to Simon Benjamin about his plans to open a carvery and bap takeaway called Something Tasty in the former home of the Slurping Toad pub.

The 58-year-old moved to Swindon from Yorkshire five years ago and invested thousands of pounds into buying the lease for the empty space, arranging contractors to carry out the necessary work to bring the building back into use, and hiring staff to work there once it's ready to welcome customers.

A significant setback with restoring power to the site delayed matters by several months as Mr Benjamin struggled with SSE to arrange the replacement of three fuses that would allow the electricity supply to be reconnected.

Since then, it seems that that issue has been sorted out and progress is being made as new lighting has been installed in the ceiling of the ground floor and the walls have been repainted.

Contractors are carrying out maintenance and repairs to the water-damaged upper floor, a few restaurant staff have been trained, and potential customers have expressed interest in the new venture.