Long Newton villagers raise £230k in bid to buy closed pub

Villagers want to reopen the building as a pub, shop and post office

Residents of a Teesside village have raised £230,000 in the hope of buying a shut-down pub.

The Vane Arms in Long Newton, near Stockton, closed in August 2019 and its owner had hoped to develop it as housing but the bid was rejected.

Now local residents are hoping to buy it and make it into a community-owned pub.

The Long Newton Community Hub said it hoped to apply to the government's community ownership fund for more cash.

Local resident Andy Mullin said villagers wanted to reopen the building as a pub, shop and post office.

He said it was also hoped it could be a meeting place and venue for gardening, walking and leek clubs.

He said: "We want to find an experienced licensee to run the pub and pull the pints.

"The whole idea is to get people together, to come in and make friends and create goodwill and well-being among the community."

Sue Sweeting bought her house in the 1980s because it was right next door to the pub

Sue Sweeting bought her house in the 1980s and said one of the main reasons was because it was next to the pub.

She said: "We discussed whether it would be a nuisance or advantageous to be next to the pub.

"To be perfectly honest, if there are parties and dos going on we're invariably in them, so the decision was made - we just want it back."

The hub hopes to have £250,000 in pledges by June, so an application can be made for match-funding through the government scheme.