A pub-with-a-swimming-pool’s plan to set up a Bed and Breakfast (B&B) has been refused by the council but new ‘Dubai’-style plans are in the works.

Plans were submitted by pub landlord Xemail Zeqiri to add a B&B to the Jolly Anglers’ arsenal, having already built a swimming pool in lockdown.

The B&B aimed to make use of the four-bedroom landlords flat above the Kennetside pub with guests to be allowed to use the pool outside the pub’s opening hours.

READ MORE: Pub landlord transforms Reading pub garden into ‘Ibiza resort

But Reading Borough Council (RBC) has refused the certificate of lawfulness application, saying the pub will need to seek planning permission or apply for it to be ‘inn accommodation’ as part of the pub.

The Jolly Anglers, which is by the River Kennet in east Reading at 314-316 Kennet Side, caught wide attention with its lockdown transformation last year.

A new application will be submitted once Mr Zeqiri has spoken to the council about what sort of application to make.

The Jolly Anglers pool, which is now being replcaced by an even bigger one

The Jolly Angler's pool, which is now being replcaced by an even bigger one

And there is more to come when it opens again on April 12, with Mr Zeqiri telling the Local Deomcracy Service (LDRS) he is transforming the pub garden again.

He said the previous pub garden transformation was like “Ibiza” and he is now “turning it from Spain to Dubai”.

Mr Zeqiri said: “There is no rush to open the B&B. I have to get it ready first.

“I am rushing to get the garden ready first. It is completely different. I have been working all lockdown.

“There is a new bigger heated swimming pool, a bigger hot tub, and a sauna.

“Newtown is becoming a new town.”

Pub landlord Xemail Zeqiri, who bought the east Reading riverside pub in February 2019, installed a 25ft-long swimming pool, 86-inch TV, pizza oven, and hot tub over the spring and summer lockdown, turning the venue into an “Ibiza resort”.

Although a councillor suggested the pub could be in hot water for not first seeking permission from RBC for the transformation, the local authority later confirmed the works were acceptable.

READ MORE: Pub’s lockdown swimming pool transformation gets council approval

Mr Zeqiri said the pool, hot tub, and sauna will be for guests of the B&B only, if permission for the B&B is allowed.

He spent a total of around £4,000 on the initial pub garden transformation, with most of that spent on the pool, pizza oven, hot tub and TV and said the works helped to tripled trade over the summer months last year during the post-lockdown period.