TWO friends from Switzerland have quit their jobs to fulfil a dream of running an English pub.

Thomas Furrer and Renate Maag picked up the keys to the Duke of Monmouth, in Abingdon Road, Oxford, on Monday.

The pair — who have never run a pub before — plan to introduce traditional Swiss food when it reopens on Wednesday, April 1.

But they insisted they will pay full respect to English pub culture and make only a few changes to the interior.

Former chartered accountant Mr Furrer, 55, said: “I always thought it would be nice to run a restaurant or a hotel and Renate had the same dreams. We started discussing it and finally we landed here.

“We were looking in Switzerland and couldn’t find anything decent and then we started thinking about where else we could live in Europe. For both of us it was Italy or England.

“There is really no need for another pasta restaurant being run by non-Italians in Italy, so we decided to come to England!”

The pair have signed a three-year lease with brewery Greene King.

Mr Furrer said he would introduce a Swiss brunch on a Sunday and occasionally provide a cheese fondue at the pub, which will keep its games area at the back.