An 11th-hour bid by real ale campaigners to have a Penrith pub listed as an asset of community value has been backed by the town council.
In March, Solway CAMRA applied for the registration of the Agricultural Hotel to give the community a potential say in its future.
That application was deferred to the new Westmorland and Furness Council and a decision by council bosses on whether it should be declared an asset is now imminent.
The nine-bed hotel remains up for auction for between £250,000 and £350,000 with Auction House Cumbria, Carlisle.
A spokeswoman confirmed that the auction on Thursday, May 25, is going ahead.
If council bosses decide it is an asset and any new buyer takes it on and then wanted to sell, the community would get six weeks’ grace to put in a feasible expression of interest.
If successful, they would get six months to then raise the money to purchase, although the seller is not obliged to sell, a council spokesperson explained.
On Monday, Penrith Town Council agreed to support CAMRA’s bid.
Councillor Hilary Snell said: “Having it as an asset of community value will enable local people to actually be involved in the running of it.”
The meeting was told that registering it as an asset gave the community six months’ breathing space to fund raise for its purchase.
“How any group who bought it, thereafter ran it, as a library, or a pub, or a historic monument, is entirely up to them,” explained clerk Viv Tunnadine.
