CAMPAIGNERS crowded into a much-loved Blackburn pub on Saturday, to build support for their efforts to keep it open.

Locals at the historic Hole I’th Wall on Shear Brow have been told the pub’s owners, Chester-based Admiral Taverns, have agreed to sell the premises to an unknown buyer, who they fear is a property developer.

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Pub regular Joanne Fox, of Yew Tree Drive, said the deal is three weeks from completion, but she has not been able to discover the identity, or the intentions, of the buyer.

So she has been frantically putting together an application to list the pub as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), which would allow time to explore options to save the pub, and more than 220 people have now signed a petition against any plans for closure.

Dozens turned up on Saturday afternoon to launch the campaign, and Joanne said: “We’ve only just found out it was up for sale, because there wasn’t a sign put up outside or anything. This pub has been here for 179 years and any plans to close it would be showing complete disregard for the people who use it and the history of this area.

“We’ve got regular quizzes, pool teams and all sorts going on here, and there are so many people who care about it.”

She has called on Admiral Taverns, one of the country’s largest pub companies, to halt the sale and reconsider the options.

No-one at the firm was available for comment over the weekend.

John Webster, chairman of the East Lancashire Campaign for Real Ale, said he would support the locals in their bid to get the pub listed as an ACV and said: “This is a proper village pub and there’s not many of them left these days.“It’s absolutely possible to run it successfully, you just have to look at the Hare & Hounds in Lammack, which has been completely turned around.”

But he said pub companies often want to maximise profits by selling to developers, as it is relatively easy to gain planning permission.

Blackburn councillor Mike Lee, who turned out on Saturday with Bob Eastwood, prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservatives, said he was disappointed that locals had only found out about the sale at the last minute. He added: “It’s really important that we support communities to keep their pubs.”

Danny Hassett, who was brought in as a temporary landlord after Admiral bought the pub in October, said he was informed of the sale, but was not told who the buyers were.

He added: “It’s a great local and has great people. It’s probably the friendliest pub I’ve been to, so it would be greatly missed.”

Several local people have expressed an interest in buying and retaining the building as a pub, the campaigners said.