Mitchells & Butlers is spending almost £1.5m refurbishing four pubs, three of which will be added to the Ember Inns chain.

The fourth, in Scotland, will be bought under the Sizzle Pub Co brand. The Lord Lounsdale in Paisley is due to reopen on 3 May after a £215,000 refurbishment.

The Nut & Squirrel in Milton Keynes is currently closed for five weeks while it is converted to an Ember Inn at a cost of £350,000.

The Nightjar in Poole, Dorset, which will reopen in June after a £300,000 refit, is also joining the brand is.

June will also see The Britannia Inn in Headington, Oxford reopen after a ten-week, £591,000 refurbishment.

The company has also opened a new £1.58m Harvester restaurant in Northampton.