The Randolph Hotel in Oxford has been undergoing extensive refurbishment after being taken over by new chain Graduate Hotels and is due to reopen this summer.

Last year the majority of staff were made redundant after the chain took over the historic hotel in Beaumont Street and prepared for extensive refurbishment.

The revamp has now been taking place for over six months following closure at the end of last year and the hotel is due to reopen in the summer.

The name Randolph is to remain part of the hotel’s title, despite the new ownership.

A popular member of staff at the hotel was Ailish Hurley.

She worked at Chapters Bar for many years and Inspector Morse author Colin Dexter was one of her friends, before her death in 2005.

He said at the time: “There was something special about her. Ailish has always been there for me to talk to whenever I needed her.”

Before his death in 2017 Mr Dexter was a regular at the hotel and the Morse bar was named after the detective he created.

He had a long-standing association with the hotel as ITV film crews would visit the hotel after filming Inspector Morse episodes in the city.

Filming for the Inspector Morse spin-off Endeavour has been taking place once again in Oxford.

This time scenes are being filmed for series eight which could be the last.

Morse dramas have been filmed in the city for decades.

If Endeavour does reach the end of its run, it will really be the end of an era, following the hugely popular Inspector Morse series and its successor Lewis.

John Thaw became recognised around the globe as Oxford-based Inspector Morse, thanks to the ITV series which ran between 1987 and 2000.

The actor died in 2002 but his memory lives on and while he had many roles it is perhaps as Morse that he is best known.

The Oxford Mail featured as part of the plot in some of the 33 ITV episodes and staff at the newspaper in Osney Mead were often asked to design special copies which could be used for filming.

Some scenes for the episode based on the 1996 novel Death Is Now My Neighbour were shot at the paper’s offices.

Over the years, actors could often be seen in the city on film sets for Inspector Morse, its sequel Lewis, or for the Morse prequel Endeavour, which started in 2012.

A family connection was established when Mr Thaw’s daughter Abigail Thaw took on the role of Oxford Mail editor Dorothea Frazil.

Shaun Evans plays the younger Morse, with Roger Allam as DI Thursday.

Inspector Morse author Colin Dexter died in 2017 and his memorial service was held the following year at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford.

It was attended by actors including Kevin Whately, who starred in Lewis with Laurence Fox, Mr Thaw’s widow Sheila Hancock, and Mr Thaw’s daughter Abigail Thaw.

The TV series Lewis ran from 2006 to 2015.

ITV has not confirmed that Endeavour is to finish following series eight but Russell Lewis, who writes the dramas, has also created a new detective series, Grace, starring John Simm, which is set in Brighton.