A REBEL landlord jailed for not paying fines imposed for defying the smoking ban is back behind the bar.

Nick Hogan will be at the helm of the Dusty Miller pub in Bury when it re-opens tomorrow after a £200,000 refit.

The Victorian hostelry, which dates back to 1834, had been closed since September. Mr Hogan and his wife Denise will be landlord and landlady of the Crostons Road pub after they and pub owners, Burnley-based brewery Moorhouse’s, jointly funded the refurbishment.

Previously, as the former landlord of The Swan and Barristers in Bradshawgate, Bolton, Mr Hogan was jailed for six months after failing to pay more than £10,000 in fines and costs.

The penalty was imposed by Bolton magistrates after he was found guilty of breaching the smoking ban in January, 2008, for allowing customers to smoke in his pub.

Freedom of choice campaigners were so outraged that they raised the money to pay the fines and in March, 2010, after serving only 12 days of his sentence, Mr Hogan was freed. He was the first person in the country to be jailed in relation to the smoking ban.

Later, the couple ran The Swan With Two Necks pub in Chorley which closed in 2010.

On his latest venture, 46-year-old Mr Hogan said: “The brewery closed the Dusty Miller three months ago. As soon as I walked into it, I saw it had amazing amount potential but it needed a bit of TLC. We’re bringing it back to life.”

The landlord, who also had the Waterside in Summerseat some years ago, will welcome former Liberal Democrat MP and TV celebrity Lembit Opik as opening night guest.