A local environmental group is preparing, along with the rest of the town, for the arrival of Wetherspoons at Market Square next month.

Wild Marlow is welcoming the pub chain to the area in an unexpected way – by helping to install bird boxes at the soon-to-be Grand Assembly alongside the Bisham Nest Box Group, a similar local initiative based just over the border.

The volunteers fixed two double swift boxes and three bat boxes into place on the building as part of an ongoing scheme to increase the number of nesting spots around Marlow this week. 

A spokesperson for the group described a “magical moment” during the installation when “a party of around eight swifts flew high above us, no doubt on their way to Africa”.

They added: “We hope when they return in May, they will approve of the new (pub)” and urged locals to “pop in for a swift pint” when it opens its doors in September.

Last month, developers unveiled designs for a rear-facing beer garden with a timber pergola at the pub, as well as a first look at the new hanging sign that - if planning permission is granted - will soon be ushering in discerning punters from the top of the high street.

While an exact opening date for the new boozer has yet to be confirmed, it is expected to operate between the hours of 7am and midnight from Sunday to Thursday and 7am to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays when it opens this autumn.