Campaigners in Dorset who saved a valued local threatened with closure have won the Campaign for Real Ale’s first ever Pub Saving Award.
The campaign kicked off with listing the pub as an asset of community value (ACV) and persuading the council to refuse a planning application to change the use of the pub by submitting more than 200 local objections.
Sally Marlow, secretary of the Save the Drovers campaign, said: “When the Drovers Inn, our only pub, suddenly closed, we faced losing the heart and soul of our village and local community. What happened after is a testament to the drive and determination of a dedicated group of people from all backgrounds working together for a common cause.
“We are a close knit village and voted unanimously at a village meeting to fight to Save the Drovers Inn. The project brought our whole community even closer together.”
Paul Ainsworth, chair of CAMRA’s pub campaigns group added: “We are losing pubs at a frightening rate of 21 a week. However, those rates of closure would be much higher without campaigners like the Save the Drovers group, who are willing to pull out all the stops to save their local.
“We launched this new award to recognise and celebrate those fantastic achievements and hopefully inspire other communities across England to fight to save their pub from closure.”