A PUB near a Herefordshire town which has "stood derelict" for six years might finally get a new lease of life.

The Radnor Arms, near Kington, closed down in 2016 but, in the years since, the village and surrounding area have clubbed together to purchase the building for the community.

The village said it is delighted to have the opportunity to reinstate its pub.

"I was very touched by the turn-out of support at the auction on Thursday afternoon at the Harp, Old Radnor, and the spontaneous round of applause and cheers after the hammer finally went down," said a spokesperson for the group, which paid £115,000 for the building.

RELATED NEWS:

Those funds were pledged by various local sources.

There is currently a committee of more than 15 people, including local tradespeople, and they said they intend to make a start on refurbishment as soon as possible.

"We would like to have a bar open at the Radnor by Christmas, if not before," they said.

The Radnor Arms Action Group was formed in 2016, about three months before the pub actually closed.

Want to stay up to date with all the latest Kington news? It's easy, just sign up for our weekly email newsletter here and all the important stories that matter to you will be delivered straight to your inbox.

"We could see the end coming and we wanted to capture a snapshot of a thriving pub, despite the dilapidated state of the building, before the business inevitably closed," they said.

"The building had been under-invested for many years and was in a poor state."

It kept a register of customers and gathered letters of support from user groups, with a view to blocking the prospective change of use that it feared.

Following the closure, by the order of environmental health, in the spring of 2016, the group produced a report on the pub and its future and called a village meeting.

The meeting was attended by around 80 people, and the group persuaded the owner, who lived in Worcester, to attend and outline his plans.

OTHER NEWS:

The meeting was said to be inconclusive and the pub remained closed and deteriorated.

Eventually, the people living in the adjoining building were forced to take the owner to court to recoup repair costs due to the state of his building, and the pub was then eventually sold.

The group has now set up as a community benefit society based on the Plunkett Foundation Model Rules, called The Radnor Arms Ltd.

This will own and manage the business and a prospectus for a community share issue is being drawn up. This should see a further £120,000 raised, and applications for grants will also be submitted.