Locals bid to save popular pub from church group

Pub regulars have been given a stay of execution in a bid to save their local from being sold off and turned into a church.

Customers of the Lynton Tavern, in Stafford, have been told a deal to sell the pub will not go through until Friday, August 21, at the earliest.

Owners Punch Taverns, which run it as a managed site, are looking to sell the freehold to religious group the Exclusive Brethren, also known as the Plymouth Brethren.

But more than 800 people have joined two separate Facebook ​ groups fighting to stop the pub closing.

Punch met with residents last Friday and said it would not exchange contracts with the "current purchaser" for two weeks, to allow campaigners to submit an "alternative proposal".

It is understood that the religious group is also looking at an alternative site in the area.

Two other pub companies are also believed to be interested in the pub.

Mike Tyson, chairman of the Save the Lynton Tavern Association, said if the pub closed a vital community asset would be lost.

"It's the only social meeting place in this area," he said. "We would welcome another pub company taking it on that is prepared to spend some money on it."

Asked why it was selling the pub, a Punch Taverns spokeswoman said: "We regularly review our estate to ensure are sites are maximising their potential and take decisions to sell our less sustainable pubs.

"The pub is currently part of our managed estate and as direct employers we have had to brief our team about the potential closure of the pub should the sale the complete."