Work has now started to give an iconic Stafford’s building a facelift worth thousands.

The Picture House on Bridge Street is being spruced up by owners JD Wetherspoon.

The listed cinema turned pub is undergoing work which includes restoring the frontage, replacing the carpets in the building and refitting the men’s toilets.

The render of the front elevation of the old cinema, which showed films from 1914 to 1995, is being repaired after years of weathering and the entire frontage being repainted. JD Wetherspoon brought the workers in last week to give the pub a revamp and manager Luther Mattock said he was confident it would be finished within the next week or so.

He said: “The main work is a restoration of the frontage as well as a refurbishment of a lot of the carpeting. The gents’ toilets are also being totally ripped out and refitted. You don’t realise how neglected and tired it is, but we’re hoping the work to the frontage will bring it back to its original glory.

“There is a two-week time window that we’re hoping all three jobs will be done in.”

The Picture House re-opened as a pub in 1997. The pub still has the cinema’s old ticket booth, balcony seating and decorative panels.