Piel Island: Search on for landlord to run pub and island

Visitors say The Ship Inn is an essential part of Piel Island

A search is to begin to find someone to manage a unique pub, and the small island on which it sits, off the coast of Cumbria.

A partnership organisation stepped in to ensure the Ship Inn on Piel Island reopened in July after the previous leaseholders terminated their contract.

But this was a temporary arrangement and the right person with "sound local knowledge" is now being sought.

The search will get under way in January, with a start date of April.

Piel Island only covers about 50 acres (20 hectares) and the only other buildings are three houses and the ruins of a 14th-Century castle

Plans to secure the future of the site off the southern tip of the Furness Peninsula, were discussed at a meeting of Barrow Borough Council's overview and scrutiny committee, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Sandra Baines, head of visitor economy and culture at the council, said it was "very much about preserving its beauty, its natural habitat", but said there were also potential drawbacks of life on the island and it is "not the dream people might think it is".

Supporters who started a petition to save the island, called it "the jewel in the crown" of the area and a "vital part of our heritage".

Piel Island lies half a mile (1km) off the coast of Cumbria