A boarded-up town centre pub could reopen next year as its owner believes demand has returned. The John Wallis in Middle Row, Ashford, has been closed since the first Covid lockdown and was expected to remain shut for good. But owner Shen Sen says the town centre site could be back in business in 2024 as “there is still a pub culture in Kent”. He paid £350,000 for the Grade II-listed building in 2017 when it was sold at a Clive Emson property auction. “It could probably become a pub again by the summer,” Mr Sen said. “It does not need planning permission for that because it already has been a …