AN EAST Cornwall village wants to save its Grade II listed local pub by buying shares in it and running it as a community enterprise.

The 15th Century Carpenters Arms at Metherell was closed a month ago by Enterprise Inns and is being advertised for sale as suitable for development.

Horrified that they may lose their drinking hole and centre of the community, some 40 residents have signed up to get the site registered as an asset of community value by Cornwall Council which would halt any sale of the building for six months. This period would give them the time to raise the money to buy the pub freehold.

Sarah Rock, one of the committee members of CANS (Carpenters Arms Needs Saving), said since the pub closed 'it felt like the heart had been ripped out of the village'.

'This bit of the village is like a morgue now,' she said. 'The Carpenters was a place that brought everyone together.

'We had street parties every August Bank Holiday and for events like the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the elderly people used to come here to meet and it's where we all kept an eye on them, we had music nights and food and a takeaway service — all that has gone now.

'We would love someone to buy the pub and run it as a pub but we don't know how likely that is so we are taking the bull by the horns and doing something ourselves.'

The Carpenters Arms is for sale for £240,000 and people have already pledged shares of £20,000 towards it: 'I reckon we could do it because we have lots of ideas of how to make it a thriving business again,' said Sarah.

Those ideas include making use of three bedrooms for bed and breakfast, providing meals on wheels for the elderly, brewing their own beer, a monthly produce market and breakfast event and home cooked meals in the restaurant.

'People are not getting any interest with their money sitting in the bank at the moment so investing in the pub is not a bad option,' added Sarah.

'Our first aim is to win support from the parish council and MP to back up our application to get the site registered as a community asset.

'The National Trust has already been very supportive as the Carpenters formed part of the original Cotehele Estate and has great historic value.'

Sarah said high rent prices and a quick turnover of landlords had not helped the business over the past year.

'We would not be the first community to take over a pub,' she said. 'It's a well trodden path. Two examples are the Tally Ho near Totnes which is run by the community and the Royal Oak at Meavy which is owned by the parish council.

'We cannot just sit here and let our pub disappear. It's been a pub for centuries and we want it to stay that way.'