Andy Bell at The Gipsy Queen with Phil Ross

IT might just be the quickest ‘save the pub’ campaign Camden has ever seen.

The Gispy Queen had been the subject of a growing petition after its closure was suddenly announced in May.

But the pints are flowing again after a swift change of ownership and a new landlord confident that the bar in Malden Road, Gospel Oak, will be a lasting success.

It’s now in the hands of independent pub company Clapham Leisure, which runs pubs, a pizza restaurant and a wine bar in a converted public loo south of the river.

Andy Bell, its co-founder, said: “We had the opportunity to come up to the north for the first time and we’d thought we’d give it a shot. This lovely building came up so we jumped at the chance to take it on. I think it’s in a perfect location. It’s a 10 minute walk to Hampstead, 10 minute walk to Belsize Park and 10 minute walk to Kentish Town – so we grabbed the opportunity to be the next steward of the building. It was quite well liked with the locals I believe.”

The pub reopened two weeks ago and Mr Bell added: “We haven’t done a huge amount to the inside,” said Mr Bell.

“We wanted to keep its name because it’s the original name of the building and has a lot of history.”

What is new is the tiling, lights, 24 different beers on tap and competitive gaming upstairs which will be finished next month.

Mr Bell added: “It’s still an event space but you can do shuffleboard and table tennis and some smart darts, maybe a couple of arcade machines.

“It’s what we’ve done with the other pubs. It adds a bit of a USP. It might not work up here but we’ll see. We’ll possibly do a karaoke pod as well which we haven’t done before but it’s always something I’ve wanted to do. The food should be up and running next weekend. Bit by bit we’re slowly opening the old lady again.”

While the cost of living crisis looms, Mr Bell acknowledged the outlook for pubs “does not look great” but he’s hopeful that punters would give up other luxuries before shunning a pint with friends.

For the Women’s Euro finals the pub was fully booked.

Mr Bell said: “Everybody’s worried about what the government’s going to do in the next budget. People are watching their pennies more, but I do think going to the pub is one of the last things people are willing to give up.

“They might not go to the shops as much to buy clothing or eat at special restaurants or something. They’d rather give them up than give the pub up I think. We’re hoping that is the way people are still thinking. We’ll see. Time will tell.”