WORK on the £1.3m JD Wetherspoon pub in Newton Abbot is scheduled to start in July. The completion date has been set for October.

The new pub, at the Queen Street site formerly occupied by Kwik Save and Harveys furniture store, is to take its name from the man who originally owned the land on which Queen Street was built.

Richard Hopkins, still remembered by Hopkins Lane which runs at the rear of the new pub, allowed Queen Street to be constructed to link the centre of the old market town with the railway station in the 1840s. This helped the town to develop into the leading railway centre for the South West.

The Richard Hopkins was granted a licence by South Devon Licensing Magistrates sitting at Newton Abbot. Planning permission had already been given by Teignbridge Council planners, despite opposition from Newton Abbot Town Council, which wanted the site retained for retail.

The pub will be music and pool-free and will create 30 full-and part-time jobs. It will be wheelchair-friendly with a specially-adapted toilet for customers with disabilities.

The Richard Hopkins will specialise in cask-conditioned beers, serving up to seven at all times with a range of beers from UK micro-brewers.

In keeping with the chain's policy, approximately a quarter of The Richard Hopkins will be a designated no smoking area.

Company chairman Tim Martin, who lives in the Teign Valley, said: 'We're delighted to have been granted a licence for a new pub in Newton Abbot.

'We believe the pub will be a great success and a valuable addition to the area.'

Mr Martin was recently named as the most influential person in the drinks industry in a poll published by trade newspaper, The Morning Advertiser.

He was singled out for 'consistently leading the way' in raising pub standards and The Richard Hopkins joins more than 560 Wetherspoon pubs throughout the UK.

Mr Martin founded the Wetherspoon chain in 1979 at the age of 24 and was described as a 'phenomenon' by Morning Advertiser editor Andrew Ping.

'Everyone in the pub business watches to see what he does next,' wrote Mr Ping. 'His influence is immense.'