BELLY dancing and Lebanese cuisine are on their way to an East Lancashire village thanks to a pub licensee who has moved home after two years in Beirut.

Debby Dawson, new licensee at the Bay Horse in Baxenden, hopes to bring a taste of the Middle East to East Lancashire after nearly two decades abroad.

Debby recently moved back to Britain from Beirut, the once-picturesque but now war-ravaged capital of Lebanon. She now hopes to build on the community atmosphere at the Bay Horse, putting on belly dancing, Lebanese cuisine nights, and summer barbecues. Debby, 36, left her home town of Blackburn aged 16 and moved to Amsterdam, before relocating to Dublin where she spent nine years running a pub.

For the past two years she has been general manager of TGI Friday's restaurant and bar in Beirut.

Debby is adjusting to life at a village pub, which she says is a little quieter than what she is used to!

The pub will tonight hold a launch party with live music and a raffle to celebrate Debby taking over.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.