Residents are aiming to raise £250,000 by asking the community to rally round to save their local pub as a community hub for the whole area.

With just 360 residents, Skelton on Ure, near Ripon, has been without a pub for nearly three years. The Black Lion had been open for 200 years, but closed just before the Covid-19 lockdowns, and owners Admiral Taverns has now put it up for sale.

Campaigners who set up a group to help save it persuaded Harrogate Borough Council to list the pub as an Asset of Community value, which gives them time to raise money to buy it.

A spokesperson said: "This was a fantastic achievement as it is one of only a handful of pub sites to be awarded such status by Harrogate Council.

"Admiral Taverns have advised the local authority that they intend to dispose of the site either as a pub or for development. That means that an alternative bid by a residents group has to be made within just a few months.

"With a history going back almost 200 years the Black Lion has several things in its favour. A recent survey in the village showed 85 per cent of the respondents wanted a pub or similar facility in the village. The pub is in an excellent position being geographically midway between York, the Dales and North Yorkshire Moors.

"It is also on an ideal cycling route so enabling the chance to sell coffee and cake. The famous annual Tractorfest weekend held in the grounds of nearby Newby Hall, the largest of its kind in the north of England, has in the past brought customers to the pub. Other events at Newby include various car rallies and the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show. Race goers on their way to Ripon racecourse would again have a venue to call into.

"There is also potential space for solar panels so the pub could be one of the first to be self-sufficient in electricity.

"The financial target of £250,000 would enable the group to apply for match funding from the Government backed 'Community Ownership Fund'. With the helpful support of the Plunkett Foundation the group has now formally become a Community Benefit Society."

Shares in the Society are on offer at £250 each to help buy the freehold. See the website www.skeltonblacklion.com for more information.