A four-floor cocktail bar and pub in High Wycombe High Street looks set to open its doors to punters later this year.

The old Wheatsheaf Inn building at 2 and 3 High Street is currently undergoing major renovation works to restore it to its former glory.

The pub is the second oldest standing building in High Wycombe, having been constructed in 1399, and has been mostly empty for many years - except for two shops on the ground floor.

But exciting plans to carefully bring the building back into proper use as a cocktail and tapas bar and pub, with community space, were given a major boost thanks to a £350,000 grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund last year.

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The work is currently ongoing, with scaffolding surrounding the outside of the Grade II listed pub - and it could be open in early September.

During the works, a string of architectural "treasures" have been unearthed - including secret doorways and wattle and daub partitions, where wooden stakes are woven with twigs and branches and then covered with clay or mud.

Bucks Free Press:

The exciting opening of The Wheatsheaf is just one of a number of projects to bring the town centre to life after a tough year.

HWBIDCo - the team behind the management of the town centre - has been working throughout lockdown to prepare the town for a positive future.

ALSO READ: Incredible history of town's second oldest building ahead of revamp works

Free WiFi in the town centre has now officially been launched and a new High Wycombe website promoting the town's heritage, news and upcoming events is coming at the end of March.

Some town centre events will also be making a return, with a vegan market on Sunday, June 6, the first to be announced.

Another new business has also opened in the High Street - Rubik's Cafe - and the ex Argos unit is to undergo a makeover to turn it into a temporary Jobcentre.

The empty shop will provide somewhere for some of the extra 13,500 DWP work coaches to support those impacted by Covid-19.

ALSO READ: Wheatsheaf Inn could have its name restored in overhaul to cocktail and tapas bar

Chief executive of HWBidCo, Melanie Williams, is confident that the future looks bright for the town. She said: "There’s no denying that Covid will have a long-lasting effect, but we’re committed to looking ahead and enacting positive change for the future of High Wycombe.

"The town and retailers showed true resilience after the first lockdown in 2020 - we saw a fantastic bounce back in visitor numbers - and there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be the same in 2021.

"The lifting of lockdown also presents the town with a great opportunity, to continue engaging with the local community. Since 2019 we have seen an 11 per cent increase in direct local spend against traditional spend in London and other neighbouring towns, and we’re delighted that people are embracing our core message of shop and support local.”

She added: "It’s been an incredibly tough year for everyone but as an organisation, HWBidCo has been working tirelessly to put plans in place for the next few months, and we look forward to sharing more exciting developments and projects with the community soon."