A PUB giant is about to throw open the doors of its newest venue and more bars are on the way, the Daily Echo can exclusively reveal.

The launch of the new JD Wetherspoon pub will create 30 jobs and boost the firm’s Hampshire portfolio to 22 bars and nearly 900 staff.

The massive chain has also confirmed it is looking at other sites in the area.

The Wagon Works in Eastleigh will replace the much-loved Home Tavern and the company has spent two months and £640,000 renovating the Southampton Road pub.

Manager Barry Price will be welcoming punters in to enjoy the 99p pints and low-cost meal deals from April 3.

The Wagon Works is named after the London and South Western Railway carriage and wagon works that used to stand opposite it and inside the pub there will be photos and information boards about the history of the area and well-known characters.

Manager Barry Price said: “I’m looking forward to welcoming customers into the pub and am confident that The Wagon Works will be a good addition to Eastleigh's social scene.”

The launch of the new bar comes less than a month after JD Wetherspoon opened The Crown Inn in West Street, Fareham. Last year the chain also opened the Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis, on the site of the former Cork and Bottle in Ocean Village.

In Southampton city centre the chain also owns The Giddy Bridge in London Road and The Standing Order in the High Street and it also has the Bright Water Inn in Shirley.

While cash-strapped drinkers may like the chain’s low prices, other pubs say they can’t compete and the giant is squeezing them out of business.

Last month the Daily Echo revealed more than 50 drinking holes have called time for good after being hit by soaring costs, the smoking ban and a deepening recession.

Among those up for sale are Gordon Arms and Clinkers Tavern in Fareham and the Fox & Hounds in Eastleigh.

A Wetherspoon spokesman said the pub chain would be opening a new bar in Portsmouth in June and wanted to increase its presence across the county.