CAMPAIGNERS hoping to save a Longparish pub have received a major boost this week.

Members of the community have assembled under the Plough Ahead banner with the hopes of buying the Plough Inn and turning it into a thriving community pub.

And on Monday, at an extraordinary Longparish parish council meeting, councillors unanimously approved a plan for the authority to apply for a £300,000 loan to help purchase the pub.

The news comes in the same week that a Community Shares offer is launched. The offer is an opportunity for anyone to buy shares in the future of the Plough Inn and help create a community run pub and community hub.

The Plough Inn has been shut since December 2015.

Early in 2018 the current owner applied for planning permission to convert the pub into a residential dwelling, but members of the Plough Ahead group successfully opposed the planning application and at a subsequent planning appeal hearing.

Campaigner Andy Jolliffe said the news of the parish council’s loan application is a big step forwards to realising the group's aims.

“This couldn’t have happened at a better time,” he said. “The £300,000 loan will help us move forward with our plans to make an offer for the pub.

“It’s a huge step forward in our plans to create a vibrant community pub and hub for Longparish. We have already had lots of pledges to buy shares and hopefully this news will encourage even more people to join us in the Share Offer, which launches on Friday (June 26).”

Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North, which covers Longparish, added: “I know what hard work has gone into the community campaign to buy the Plough and retain it as a community asset.

“Pubs really are the heart of village communities and I know Longparish is a village that knows how to pull together. The Community Share offer which goes live this week is a great chance for more people to get involved, be part of the pub’s future and hopefully see the Plough as somewhere we can all go back to for a pint.”

For more information about The Plough Community Shares Offer and how to become part of the plans to support buying and reopening The Plough, go to Ploughahead.co.uk.