Staff record single in bid to buy pub

Staff fighting to keep their pub open have recorded a single in a bid to raise £100,000 to buy the freehold.

'The Torrianos' are calling on 200,000 people to download their song and save the Torriano in Kentish Town, North London.

Licensee Suzi Martin, 30, who sings in the band, said the cash would help them in their bid to buy the freehold from owners Spaces UK.

The move is the latest step in a campaign backed by Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow and local Labour MP Frank Dobson.

Suzi said: "The only way to secure the pub for the community is to buy the freehold of the building so we formed a creative collective to write the song.

"Hopefully people will not only get inspired by the story of the pub but it is also a good single.

"We're appealing to pub lovers everywhere to get behind our fight and support us all the way."

The Torriano has been facing closure since Spaces UK won a planning appeal last year giving them permission to build private flats upstairs and turn the basement's Live Lounge into a kitchen.

But since then the owners have not shown any signs that they are sending in builders leaving the pub's supporters fearing they have plans to sell the building on.

Ms Martin and her partner Dean Guberina need £100,000 to buy it.

The single - Hold Back the Night - is available to download at iTunes​ or Amazon​

Spaces UK was not available for comment.