VILLAGERS have pledged to buy shares in a Dales pub as part of a bid to keep it open.

They will be trying to raise up to £350,000 to purchase and carry out works at the Punch Bowl in Burton in Lonsdale. It is on the market at £275,000.

At a meeting attended by more than 80 people, residents agreed to the plan to try to take over the village's only pub from Blackburn-based brewers Thwaites.

They have had it listed as community asset, but the moratorium on its sale runs out on September 24.

Shares are available at £1 each, with a minimum investment of £500 and a maximum of £50,000, and investors can be from inside or outside the village.

Mike Lavelle, chairman of the group trying to buy the pub, said: “I’m very pleased so many people came to the meeting and hope they appreciate the reasons behind the proposal for a community buy-out: to enable the village to take control of its last pub. We’ve just lost the village’s primary school, a huge blow to village morale.

"Although the pub hasn’t closed, there’s a possibility a private buyer could close the pub in the future – something the community doesn’t want. Let’s hope we can bring the pub under community control, as we did with the village’s community-run shop nine years ago.”

The share prospectus is available on request by emailing bilcommunitypub@gmail.com, or can be viewed online at burtoninlonsdalecommunitypub.com. There’s also a Facebook page - search ‘Burton in Lonsdale Community Pub’ and look for the Facebook link.