Hebden Bridge pub regulars in co-operative bid to save local

If the bidders are successful, the co-operative pub would become only the eighth such business in the UK

Pub regulars in West Yorkshire are hoping to buy the business and set it up as a co-operative.

At a meeting, more than 100 people pledged an initial £82,000, to buy the Fox and Goose at Hebden Bridge.

Julia Warren, who has run and owned the pub for 10 years, is selling-up because of ill health.

If the bidders are successful, the co-operative pub would become only the eighth such business in the UK.

Ms Warren said: "We're going to regret losing the little pubs that are there."

She did not want the pub to become part of a chain or used for housing.

A group called the Fox Friends has been set up to bid for the pub although it may take many months to raise the money and get everything organised.

'Safeguard future'

The pub is expected to have an asking price of about £275,000.

Ms Warren, who has lost her sight, said the Fox and Goose was an "old-fashioned" pub selling real ale.

Jon Howard, of the Campaign for Real Ale, said: "Pubs are the focal points of countless communities.

"Pub closures have a big effect on the lives of local people, especially in rural areas."

He said it was good to see people coming together to "safeguard the future" of their locals.

Katherine Darling, of the Plunkett Foundation, which helps rural communities to set up and run community-owned shops and pubs, said there are only seven pubs currently run as a co-operative in the UK.