The Fox Inn in Loxley: Locals buy village pub

The village pub has nearly 200 local shareholders who chipped in to save it

Nearly 200 people have joined together to buy their local pub.

Residents in Loxley, Warwickshire, are buying The Fox Inn - the village's only pub - amid fears it could be sold to developers and closed down.

Donations and shares sold at £200 each helped them raise £250,000.

The venue, which residents say will be "a community pub", is set to re-open in March with villagers having "full freedom to do what we want".

Brewery Ei Group put the pub up for sale with a £345,000 asking price for the freehold, but agreed a price of £290,000 for the pub's "action group".

The residents will raise the £40,000 shortfall through a loan and grant from the Plunkett Foundation which helps communities carry out such projects.

The group's chair, Paul Jennings, said he was so passionate about saving the pub that he promised to get a tattoo of its logo if they managed it.

"My wife is not overly impressed," he said.

The pub was listed as an "asset of community value" by the parish council, giving community groups the option to take it over.

"After it was put up for sale, the people looking at it were looking to develop it and the fear was it would close and we would lose it," Mr Jennings said.

The parish council listed the long-standing pub as an "asset of community value"

"It's the only meeting place in the village and that's an important part of keeping the community together.

"It's a village pub and that's what we want to keep: the culture and atmosphere of a village pub."

As well as being a pub, The Fox Inn will also incorporate a cafe, community space and a vegetable patch to provide for the restaurant.

"It's really focussed around the community," Mr Jennings said.