Black Horse pub in Grimston reopens after community raised £500,000

(Left to right) New tenant Tanya Henson and Black Horse Community Group Ltd members Carol Davis and Mike Petty

A village pub which closed more than four years ago is set to reopen after it was rescued by the community.

Grimston in Leicestershire has just 115 households and was set to be left without a pub when The Black Horse closed in 2020.

But dozens of people rallied round and invested between £50 and £20,000 in a community company to take over the 400-year-old pub.

It is now ready to reopen on Saturday after a £500,000 investment.

Mike Petty, chairman of The Black Horse Community Group Ltd, said: "We've been through so much to get to this point and there's been many times where we thought this might not even happen."

Villagers bought the pub after developers failed twice to secure planning permission to turn it into flats.

The community raised £250,000 towards the project, which was matched with a further £250,000 from the Government's Community Ownership Fund, while volunteers gave up their time to help refurbish the building.

The Black Horse before the renovation

The Black Horse following its £500,000 restoration

Residents from across the wider parish also chipped in to help. Donations were also received from nearby communities of Shoby and Saxelbye.

The pub, near Melton Mowbray, has had a complete makeover. It has been stripped back to its original brick façade and inside the building boasts a fresh décor and a new bar.

The pub has a fresh décor and a new bar

A new tenant has also been found in Tanya Henson.

"It's been great because there's so many people already involved who have a lot of passion for the place who really want it to work," she told the BBC.

"We feel as the tenants that we are really supported because they want us to succeed."

Carol Davis, committee secretary of the Black Horse Community Group, added: "It's part of the village and it is where people meet to socialise and make new friends, helping to reduce social isolation."