Landlady who faced 'horrendous' two years delighted after The Farmers Arms at Lowick Green reopens

Emma Ormesher, of the Farmers Arms at Lowick Green near Ulverston, said she wanted to leave the pub after a tumultuous last two years - but is fighting on and hopes to attract more punters.

She said the pub was her husband Nick's “dream” after the pair moved from Derbyshire in 2016 and was struggling to run the business on her own after his sudden death in September 2017.

The pub was also a centre of controversy last year when one of the chefs stabbed the tyres of a customer’s car after they complained about his food.

Miss Ormesher said he "killed the business" and the chef left the pub immediately and came back only to return his key.

He was ordered to carry out unpaid work after being convicted of criminal damage in court.

Now the landlady, who lives in Haverigg, is hoping to attract customers and tourists back to the pub after the temporary closure.

She said: "It has been horrendous over the last two years for a number of reasons.

"It has been a struggle running the place on my own without my husband.

"I have to work from 11pm to 11am and that can be very difficult.

"I have already handed in my notice to the brewery but no-one has come forward to take it on.

"Then we had the errant chef - a lot o people stopped coming after that.

"We have a very limited staff now because a lot of them left while we were closed.

"There was an absolutely huge flood. And I thought 'oh my god how am I going to clean this up?'"

But Miss Ormesher said was keen to look forward and emphasise the positives for her pub.

"The next few months are make or break for us," she said.

"I really want to push ahead and make the best of it and hopefully we will see more people come through the door.

"I have got to keep going.

"It is about being positive now and I am hoping we have a really good summer."

She said that rooms at the pub would soon be ready for people to stay in again following the repair work.