A group of villagers who have formed a community pub society have succeeded in buying their local inn and saving it from housing development.

The Old Horn at Spennithorne, between and Bedale and Leyburn, closed last autumn when its owners, Paul and Christine Hornsby, argued they could no longer make the business viable. After failing to sell it on the open market, they applied to convert the Georgian building into two one-bedroom homes.

The Old Horn Community Pub Society sprung into action last year and managed to get the pub, which dates back to 1810, listed as an Asset of Community Value, meaning its original use cannot be changed.

The group have now completed the purchase of The Old Horn after raising funds themselves and are searching for a leaseholder to run it on their behalf. They received £180,000 in investment from shareholders and this was then matched by a government funding stream.

They successfully argued the pub was vital to local sports teams and community activities, despite the Hornsbys saying that it had been built for farm labourers in a village which is now mainly home to retirees.

The OHCPS said: “We are delighted to announce, that as of today the Old Horn Community Pub Society Ltd are the proud owners of the Old Horn Inn after completing contracts and getting hold of the keys.

“This brings the pub back into the hands of the community, where it belongs. We’d like to thank everybody for their support and believing it was possible. A lot of work lies ahead of us and once we have inspected the condition, confirmed and accurately costed our plans we will be in touch with further information.”

Once open at the end of this summer, the inn will serve locally-sourced food, beers from local breweries, and offer two guest bedrooms.

Anyone interested in the tenancy should contact [email protected]

The Old Horn, Spennithorne: Yorkshire Dales villagers buy traditional pub to run themselves after saving it from housing conversion