Tom Sellers acquires Chris Evans's former pub

Chef Tom Sellers has acquired broadcaster Chris Evans's former pub, the Lickfold Inn in West Sussex.

Sellers teamed up with a local private investor who has bought the freehold of the Lickfold Inn in Petworth, West Sussex.

It is set to open at the end of this year.

The chef, who won a Michelin star at Restaurant Story in London in 2013, will oversee the entire project, although he will not be cooking there.

Instead, he has appointed Graham Squire as head chef at the pub. Squire previously worked in London at both Trinity and Bistro Union with Adam Byatt and prior to that was at Claridge's for seven years.

The Lickfold Inn has been closed for the past four years and was subject to a campaign by the local community to save it after it was left near derelict.

A pub for over a century, the Lickfold Inn has been closed since August 2010. The building has Grade-II listed status and is being restored by Sellers and his team.

The ground floor is expected to be a "proper" pub throughout the day serving craft and local beer and a range of modern and traditional cocktails and snacks.

The upstairs dining room, seating up to 36, will be open for lunch and dinner from Monday through to Saturday with a modern British menu, incorporating ingredients from local specialist suppliers.

Typical dishes on the launch menu of five starters, five main courses and five desserts include: chicken, Earl Grey and hay terrine; mussels, cider and lovage; cod, cabbage and buttermilk; partridge pot-au-feu; ox pie, buckwheat and oyster; bitter chocolate, clementine and lavender; and blackberry, apple and wheat crumble.