An Abingdon pub which has announced a controversial name change is planning to reopen next month.

The Midget pub off Preston Road is to get a six-figure investment from its owners Greene King with work now under way.

Its name - linked with the town's former MG car factory - will be changed to The Roaring Raindrop - an MG car designed to tackle the land speed record in the 1950s.

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The pub company said on its website that it is expecting the pub to reopen on December 13.

The decision to change the name has caused controversy.

Earlier this year, more than 500 people signed an online petition calling for the name of the pub to be changed as it was deemed to be offensive by critics. 

Petition organiser Dr Erin Pritchard said pub owner Greene King should "recognise the offence of the term and its implications" and the company agreed to change the name.

But the decision was not well received by everyone in the community - two online petitions were launched calling for the pub's name to remain the same and one of them from Joe Lawlor attracted more than 4,700 signatures.

Nigel Stead, who launched one of the petitions, wrote to Greene King to complain about the name change.

(Image: Andy Ffrench) The company responded: "We are very conscious of the importance and significance of The Midget car to Abingdon, and in particular the record-breaking 'Magic Midget' from which the pub originally took its name.

"We have spent many months looking at this and while we are clear that no offence has ever been intended by the name, it is equally true that there are people who wouldn't feel welcome in a pub with this name."

It added: "We want our pubs to be places where everyone can feel welcome, and it is for this reason that we are changing it to a name that still reflects an important part of Abingdon's history.

"We were pleased to select The Roaring Raindrop as it honours the EX181, which was nicknamed The Roaring Raindrop, and was the last record-breaking car to be manufactured by MG in Abingdon.

"Our priority was to combine the name change at the pub with a significant investment that cemented its links to MG's heritage in the town and also safeguarded it for years to come."

Mr Stead replied: "It was only a week before the pub shut that the name change broke into the news. I'm guessing this was to avoid the press coverage and backlash that this name change is having.

(Image: Andy Ffrench) "Dr Pritchard's petition stands at just over 1,300, mine and Mr Lawlor's stand at over 5,000. This is nearly four to one in favour of keeping the name."

The pub, which opened in 1974, was originally called The Magic Midget - the nickname of the MG EX 127 that broke the world land speed record of 120mph in 1932.

But in 2002 the hostelry was renamed The Midget, as a reference to the wider range of Midget models produced by MG.

The Roaring Raindrop was driven by Sir Stirling Moss in 1957 when he set a land speed record of 245.6mph over a distance of 1km at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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