IT took just a few short hours for an iconic Darwen pub to be razed to the ground.

The Punch Bowl Inn, Roman Road, Darwen, was intact on Tuesday morning, but by the evening it had been reduced to a pile of rubble.

The landmark venue, on the corner of Pothouse Lane, had been closed since March following the retirement of landlady Jean Powell.

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Regulars had attempted to preserve the future of the building as an ‘asset of community value’, using new government legislation.

But brewers Thwaites, claiming the venture was no longer sustainable, exchanged contracts for the sale of the premises.