TWO brothers are poised to take over a defunct Mill Hill pub in the hope of transforming it into a hub for the community.

The Adam and Eve pub in The Ridgeway shut at the end of March when previous owner John Hardie decided to retire.

Now Nick and Tim Cockburn, who have been in negotiations over the premises since December, are hoping to get the keys this week and make a start on revamping the pub with a more community feel.

The former Mill Hill School pupils work together for Optic Realm, a property development company, and say they “accidentally” got into the pub trade after taking over the Prince Albert in Camden.

Nick, 38, said: “We originally took it over with plans to turn it into flats, but for some reason at the last minute we decided to reopen it as a pub.

“We spent a lot of time and money redeveloping it and improving it and now it's a really popular local pub.

“After that we got the bug and started looking for something in north west London, and when we heard about this we thought it was ideal. We used to drive past on the bus to school every day and remember seeing the old sign.”

Both men, who now live in Barnet, admit there has been a lot of delays caused by the pub company Scottish and Newcastle, in taking over the lease.

Tim, 34, said: “It's been really frustrating and quite a slow process, but we're hoping to sign the lease this week and get our hands on the keys.

“At one point we actually had to ring the head office in Amsterdam to explain what was happening and they were furious to hear about how slow the process has been.

“It's been very frustrating for us. Initially we wanted to be open before the World Cup and the summer to take advantage of the beer garden, but now it looks like it will be closer to Christmas.”

The brothers say they will include the community in the redevelopment process, taking ideas about what they want to see from the pub.

Among ideas already floated by the pair include opening up the bar area and open function rooms in the former flat above the pub, offering more options for community use.

Tim added: "We do want to hear from people about what they're looking for, as ultimately it's a community pub. It won't work unless people want to come here.

"It's a big job and we're going to have to invest a lot of money to get it up to standard. It's clear nothing's been spent here for a while.

"There are a lot of chain pubs around, but we want to create something with character and that reflects the local community."

They are also hoping to restore the old sign which was painted over years ago.