JOYOUS villagers have hailed a ‘victory for communities everywhere’ after they raised £180,000 inside two months to buy their local pub.

The Dog Inn, in Belthorn, has now been saved from potential redevelopment after a co-operative group made up of residents stumped up the cash through a share issue.

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Hyndburn MP Graham Jones described the campaigners’ group, The Dog Inn Belthorn Ltd, as ‘an inspiration’.

The pub, in Belthorn Road, closed last November and was sold to Ribble Valley Luxury Homes Ltd before a planned auction in February.

The two parties’ solicitors are now in discussions to finalise the sale, and backers hope the venue could be open again as early as July.

Kathryn Sharpe, secretary of The Dog Inn Belthorn Ltd, said: “It’s just been amazing. I can’t believe we’re reached the total amount given how tight the deadline was.

“It’s been two months since the developer set us the target and only in our wildest dreams did we think we could actually achieve it.

“We have had more than 90 different contributions, the majority of which came from the people of Belthorn. But we have also sold shares to people in Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Preston and Manchester.

“Sometimes I think people think they can’t do anything when a pub closes, but we can. We have.”

Shares in the pub cost £1, but investors had to pledge a minimum of £250, meaning some residents clubbed together to form consortiums to ensure their say in the pub’s future.

Each shareholder will have one vote, regardless of the amount invested, when a management committee is elected later this year.

The share issue raised more than £164,000, with the remainder to be met by Co-operative and Mutual Solutions (CMS), which specialises in helping communities buy pubs.

CMS director, Dave Hollins, who lives in Belthorn, said The Dog Inn is now set to become the first co-operative pub in Lancashire.

He said: “CMS has helped 19 pubs re-open, but for me this project was unusual because I was a regular at The Dog Inn and I can see it from my front door.

“We were on hand to advise Kathryn and the rest of the group. We must give credit to Stanley Ainsworth, of Ribble Valley Luxury Homes Ltd, who has been true to his word and gave us every opportunity to buy the pub.

“Every member, no matter how much they invested, will get a vote in running the pub. We hope to open a shop for essential goods and plant allotments out the back in the long run.

“I think there are 35 pubs in the country run using this model and this will be the first in Lancashire.

“In November 2014, Enterprise Inns closed Belthorn’s last pub. The people of Belthorn did not take this lying down. They organised, put together a business plan and share offer document, then raised the money to buy The Dog Inn themselves.”

The pub, which straddles the border between Blackburn and Hyndburn, is also in the process of being listed as an Asset of Community Value with Hyndburn Council which will give it extra protection if there were ever plans to sell it.

Mr Jones said: “It’s absolutely fantastic. I think the big thing here is that it shows what can be done when people work together.

“The fact there’s going to be a co-operative pub, run by the community, for the community, shows you what people power is about. They are an inspiration.”

Mr Ainsworth, who runs Ribble Valley Luxury Homes Ltd from Eastham House Farm, in Great Mitton, said he was happy to sell the property to the co-operative.

He said: “My solicitors are talking to theirs and hopefully things will be resolved within a matter of weeks.”