Offer made to purchase village pub in Northumberland as Kevin Whately gives his backing

A group of residents aiming to purchase The Fishers Arms in Horncliffe have confirmed this week that they have made an offer to the owner.

And hot on the heels of Robson Green, Hairy Biker Si King and members of the band Lindisfarne publicly lending their support, Kevin Whately has posted a video message calling on people to back the bid if they can.

Although the group have raised enough money through their community buyout for the £180,000 asking price, they need to bring in “at least another £100,000” for repairs and refurbishment.

Kevin Whately is best known for his roles as Neville 'Nev' Hope in the comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Robert 'Robbie' Lewis in the crime dramas Inspector Morse and Lewis.

His message included the following: “The intention of the local community is not to just have a boozer at The Fishers Arms, but to have a music venue, a coffee shop, a village hall and a storm shelter because often they lose power in the winter and they can have their own generator.

“In short, they want a community centre and for this they are raising money. I hope you can help them.”

Events have also been organised to help the total and a traditional ceilidh was held in the village hall last Friday with Liz Breckons and 'Pennydot' providing live music and a caller for dancers.

The ceilidh, which also included a pie and pea supper then cake, raised £600.

A spokeswoman for the campaign’s steering committee said: “Within the next two weeks, the pledges made on our website – www.fishersarmshorncliffe.org – will be converted into shares.

“The share option remains open and we also have a Gofundme – https://gofund.me/bd69e0de – which remains open for donations.

“As well as creating a comfortable warm traditional Northumbrian pub, we would like to embrace new technologies and create an eco pub to minimise our carbon footprint.

“We are hoping that we will manage to secure some grant funding to realise our vision, but will continue to fundraise.”