If all goes to plan, the former Heswall police station on Telegraph Road will be given a new lease of life and reopen next year as a pub and restaurant.

Salford based Hydes Brewery, which also owns The Boat House in Parkgate, wants to create a 'premium dining' experience which charges customers rather than villains.

The facade of the building, which makes the old cop shop one of Heswall's few distinctive buildings, will be maintained. The garage, store and rear extensions will be demolished, a new single story kitchen extension built, along with a single storey rear and side dining extension.

The station, built in 1911, was designed by a respected architect called Harry Beswick, and it remains a characterful presence on the high street.

The new venue will be open until 12.30am on Friday and Saturday nights, and until midnight from Sunday to Thursday - and around 30 jobs will be created to run it.

How the new pub might look

Telegraph Road already has its fair share of hospitality outlets - Gusto is next door to the police station, and then there's Silk Road, Barton Rouge, Franklyn's and the rest.

What's more, these are troubling times to be pondering a restaurant launch as, day by day, the cost of living crisis begins to feel more like a cost of living catastrophe.

But let's not dwell on anything negative. After so long abandoned it can only be good that a proud building like Heswall police station has dodged the wrecking ball and will become useful once again.

So far Hydes' new venture remains unnamed. 

Not so long ago, The Prense Well on The Mount raised a few eyebrows when it unveiled its new look and identity - though minds were put at rest when this modern watering hole turned out to have taken the name of one of the old watering holes that once served Heswall folk with fresh H2O.

So, any ideas? We have long favoured The Old Nick, but Old Nick is also a sobriquet for Satan - which might not go down well with anyone who reckons the demon drink leads only to ruin and damnation.

If you have any thoughts, please share, and we will forward them on to Hydes Brewery.