A NEW era is beginning for a famed Huddersfield nightclub.

Johnny's, at Beast Market, was the one of the first nightclubs in Huddersfield when it opened its doors in 1969.

It closed after 37 years in January this year.

But now, it is to be re-opened with a new look and a new name, which is set to be revealed in a few weeks.

The club - and the attached Huddersfield Hotel complex - was bought by Landswood Hotels Ltd in October and they want to breathe new life into the once-buzzing venue.

Work started this week on transforming it.

The ground floor will be first to re-open. The old dance floor is being ripped up and replaced and the interior is being given a bright, modern look.

The layout of the club is not going to change too much - though the familiar feature of Johnny's Jungle Diner will disappear and be blocked off.

However, another unique feature - the World's Smallest Licensed Bar - will remain.

The `bar', which features a small wine fridge in a telephone box, featured in the Guinness Book of Records many years ago.

The ground floor club area is set to open within the next month.

A further two bars upstairs are set to be turned into games rooms and chill-out areas over the next six to eight months.

Johnny's originally had 10 bars, three dance floors, the diner, pool tables and function rooms. It was run for more than three decades by brothers Joe and Johnny Marsden, who sold the complex to Swallow Hotels.

Polly Harnett, regional food and beverages manager for Landswood Hotels Ltd, is the woman in charge of transforming Johnny's.

She is based in Ramsgate, Kent, and has been given the task of updating all seven hotels which Landswood Hotels Ltd bought from Swallow Hotels.

She said: "This is the only one of our hotels which has a nightclub.

"We don't want to alter the design too much, because it is a listed building and it is unique.

"We want to keep the outside as it is, but with new signage and lighting, because it is quite quirky.

"Johnny's was a favourite place for local people and we've heard so many stories about how much of a good time they have had here over the years.

"Everyone knows it as one of the best nights out and we want to go back to that."

There will be something for all tastes at the new-look Johnny's.

Thursday and Friday nights will offer up-to-the-minute dance and r'n'b music for the younger crowd, while Saturdays will mix today's tunes with classics from the 1980s and 90s for an older audience.

Polly said: "There will be something different for different people on each night.

"Johnny's had gone downhill in the last year or so and had it's problems.

"We are working closely with the police and licensing because we want the club to be one of the safest that people can go to.

"But this will be a new era, a good new venture."