A POPULAR pub in the centre of Irvine has closed its doors - for the second time in recent years.

Boards and shutters have gone up at the Crown Inn on the High Street after the latest tenant gave up their lease for the premises.

The Crown - a fixture of the High Street since the 1800s - was previously closed in 2020 after another former tenant relinquished the lease, but it reopened a few weeks later under new management.

A source at the bar told the Times: "I believe the Crown will reopen in time.

"The current lease was handed back to the brewery as the building requires a lot of work, with the roof leaking and being very run down.

"It's in the hands of the brewery if they lease it again before repairs are done, or a refit, which has been spoken about.

"The last person to lease the the pub just decided he could not continue with the condition that the pub was in."

The Crown premises played host to the world-famous Irvine Burns Club when it first formed in what was then known as Milne's Inn in 1826.