Hoveringham residents have joined together to raise the money to buy the Reindeer Inn after the owners put it up for sale.

VILLAGERS are celebrating after enough money was raised to save their pub.

The Reindeer Inn at Hoveringham closed on January 1, but residents have joined together to raise the necessary funds to buy the pub as a community asset after the owners put it up for sale.

Mr Phil Newton called a meeting at the end of March to rally support, saying “a village without a pub is a village without a heart.

He said he was overwhelmed by the response. Just hours after the meeting, the first donation was pledged.

“It has been absolutely phenomenal and we have had so much support from the neighbouring villages too,” he said.

“The support we have had to save the Reindeer has been humbling. People have been so committed to saving the pub.”

The pub was taken on by Anita Higgins in the 1990s after the landlord left at short notice, and she has done her best to keep the pub alive for the benefit of the village.

But after the last landlord left the pub, Anita decided to sell up ­— but agreed that if the villagers could raise the money, she would sell it to them.

An estimated £320,000 was needed to open the pub and for working capital, and the total amount was raised on Sunday, just a matter of weeks after the initial meeting asking for support from the community.

The owner agreed to open the pub over the Easter bank holiday weekend to show the community what they could be missing if the pub was lost, and Phil said it was packed out on all four days, which was a real boost to the campaign.

Phil said: “The hard work starts here. We have got to appoint a board of directors and then get in a landlord before we can open again.”

The next steps towards getting the pub re-opened is to appoint a board of directors and find a suitable landlord or landlady to take on the pub’s lease.

Phil said: “The pub is ready to walk in and open and get up and running as soon as we find the right tenants. It could be a landlord or lady or a husband and wife team.”

Anyone interested should call Phil on 07769 733772.