Community buy-outs could save ailing pubs

The decline of the Great British pub could be halted by the co-operative business model, it has been claimed.

According to a new report by Co-operatives UK, public houses owned and run by local residents could help turn around figures which show one pub closes in the UK every three hours.

The study comes in the same week as The Star Inn in Salford, which was given three weeks' notice of closure, became the UK's first urban pub co-operative after community members clubbed together and bought it. A similar arrangement also saved The Old Crown in Hesket Newmarket, Cumbria.

Ed Mayo, co-author of the report, said: "Pub closures can be like pulling the plug on local communities. It is scandalous that pubs like The Star Inn are being closed at three weeks' notice and it is a tribute to the community in Salford that they responded in an innovative answer to the threat of closure."