A CAMPAIGN to save a Kingsley pub has achieved victory after two villagers stepped in and bought it out of the blue.

The Cricketers Inn, in Forge Road, was recently put on the market, with Savills listing a guide price of £325,000.

Fearing that, like so many other pubs up and down the country, it could fall into the hands of a developer and close for good, a group of residents began raising funds.

Following a public meeting, with more than 50 attendees, the community project had some substantial pledges and plenty of local enthusiasm. However, Kingsley resident Kay Wheatley told the Herald that events had taken an “unusual” turn and gone far better than expected.

“The Cricketers has been on the market, with a group of villagers trying to possibly buy the pub and stop it being developed,” she said.

“But, out of the blue, two villagers have actually stepped in and bought it.”

She explained that regulars Tony and Tracey Gould “could not bear to see a well-loved pub bite the dust” and will now run it as a freehouse.

It is a “totally new venture for them both” but, with villagers evidently keen to help keep the pub afloat, they could be pulling pints long into the future.

A Punch Taverns spokesman had said The Cricketers Inn was up for grabs but, ultimately, what happened to it was out of its hands.

Although the property was “sold as a pub”, the “future operation will be determined by the purchaser”.

The rate of pub closures has slowed nationally, but a significant number are still disappearing.

In 2014, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) found that UK pubs were closing at a rate of 29 per week. According to real-estate advisor Altus Group (based in Reigate, Surrey), around 616 pubs have disappeared since April 2017, roughly two per day.

Pubs are often one of a village’s first services to go. Suffering from reduced passing trade, they are rarely picked up by big chains and can struggle to turn over substantial profits.

Compounding this is the increased value of land if it can provide housing.

In fact, critics have even accused pub providers of deliberately running down businesses for precisely this eventuality.

Luckily for Kingsley pub-goers, their local is back from the brink.