Two well-known Hartlepool snooker players are on cue to take over the running of the venue formerly known as the Sports Bar, in Hartlepool's Park Road.

Tony 'Togga' Short and Paul Kerr will run the bar under the new name, 3 Lions.

The bar will also form a "breeding ground of young sporting talent" as Tony and Paul will be training over-14s in snooker and pool in the bar before opening time.

The club will also be supporting other Hartlepool sporting clubs by running weekly draws and race nights and donating money to football teams, boxing clubs and dancing schools.

Paul, 51, was a Hartlepool snooker champion and has won numerous snooker accolades at Durham County level in a career spanning 30 years.

He said: "I'm looking forward to the new venture – but it's quite frightening!"

The father of two, from the Rossmere area, added: "I'm looking forward to training youngsters.

"I tutored Tony when he was starting off and he's really good. We are hoping this will be a breeding ground for new sporting talent.

"We are trying to get youngsters off the streets."

Tony, a 40-year-old father of four from the Oxford Road area, said: "We have been looking for suitable premises for two years but struggled to find anywhere suitable for what we wanted to do."

Tony has been playing snooker and pool for 25 years, and his father Stan Armstrong ran the Graythorpe 'GC' Club, which is now The Clarendon, in the mid-1980s.

The four-times Town snooker winner, 2004 Pro-Am grand final winner and billiards champion added: "I'm quite proud to be taking on this venture with a top man.

"I wouldn't go into business with just anyone. He taught me how to play when I was 15 or 16."

The bar will show live football, including Premiership games, and serve food and live bands will play on weekends.

A VIP opening night will be held on Friday, July 25, before the bar will be open to the public from 11am on Saturday, July 26.