VILLAGERS are celebrating a breakthrough in their campaign to buy a Hampshire pub and save it from closure.

The landlord of the Wheel Inn at Pennington has agreed to stay on for another month, giving locals more time to finalise their plans and raise the cash.

The pub was due to close this week but Pete Walters, 66, will now remain until the end of August.

His decision has delighted members of the newly-formed Wheel Inn (Pennington) Community Group, which wants to acquire the premises.

As reported in the Daily Echo, they have asked New Forest District Council designate the pub as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) as part of their campaign to save the facility.

Owners of an ACV are required to give the local community first refusal if they decide to sell the property.

Recent success stories include the Spotted Cow in Holbrook, Derbyshire, which shut in 2014. It was later designated an Asset of Community Value and has just reopened after 225 villagers joined forces to buy the building for £275,000.

Mr Walters, who has run the Wheel Inn for almost a decade, is staying on in a deal reached with the owners, Terramek Ltd.

The move will enable accountant Peter Simpson and other members of the community group to continue working on a business plan for the premises.

Mr Simpson said: “It’s increased the pub’s chances of survival by keeping the doors open.

“The property itself needs serious care and attention and a large sum of money will be needed for this as well as the purchase price.

“In its current state of repair the property is unlikely to be worth more than £150,000-£200,000.

“Any agreed rental would have to be adjusted to compensate for the property’s condition and the owners may prefer to dispose of the Wheel Inn rather than suffer a low rental return.”

The group are hoping to obtain the cash from a variety of sources, including grants and crowdfunding.

Villagers decided to join forces amid fears that Terramek Ltd intended to close the popular watering hole after failing to find a buyer.

Speaking last week Mr Walters said: “The owner has been trying to sell it but hasn’t had any takers and says it isn’t going to be a pub any more.”

A Terramek spokesman was unavailable for comment.