Pub sale prompts community bid

Residents Simon Fielder and Dean Jenkins want to take over the Dolphin Inn

People living in the Cornish village of Grampound are starting a campaign to buy the local pub.

The Dolphin Inn has been put up for sale for £415,000 by the owners St Austell Brewery.

A group has been set up to explore the possibilities of buying and running the pub as a community asset.

One of the campaign leaders said he was optimistic, adding: "If anybody can do it, Grampound can."

The pub is on the busy A390 road between Truro and St Austell

Supporters of the idea of taking over the pub for the community have created a Facebook page and are carrying out a survey to collect peoples' views.

Simon Fielder, who is one of the group's founders, said: "A village needs a hub and without a pub the village is just a street with houses either side and it needs more than that but getting the money together will be the first obstacle."

Grampound parish councillor Dean Jenkins is optimistic

Dean Jenkins, a retired doctor and a councillor on Grampound with Creed Parish Council who is also part of the group, said he wasn't sure how they would raise the money yet.

"We have no idea at the moment but there's match funding that could be available from organisations like 'The Pub is the Hub' and Plunkett," he admitted.

"If anybody can do it, Grampound can."

In a statement St Austell Brewery, which owns the property, said: "Our business partners at the Dolphin Inn in Grampound have decided to move on, and after much consideration, we are now looking to pass on the ownership of this much-loved pub.

"The sale is a great chance for someone to take on a pub with great potential for future success as a freehold, and we're pleased that the pub has been listed as an Asset of Community Value, meaning that the community can put a bid in for the pub."