Pub may soon get new owner

The Sun Inn at Welshampton could soon have a new owner, it was revealed today.

Pub chain Admiral Taverns, which bought the pub in May, today said it was due to exchange contracts with a purchaser in the near future.

But it could give no details of the prospective buyer, or what the future might hold for the building.

The boarded-up pub, in the village near Ellesmere, was shut in March by former owner Punch Taverns, causing an outcry in the village.

Two months later it was sold as part of a package of 869 pubs to Admiral Taverns.

But the new owner decided it would then sell it on, marketing it as a pub.

The freehold of the building has been on the market with an asking price of £600,000.

Neal Barnes, business development manager for Admiral Taverns, said that contracts were now due to be exchanged for the freehold of the Sun Inn.

He said he could not give any details of the prospective buyer.

"We decided to sell it because we felt it would flourish much more as an owner-managed pub, rather than a tenanted pub. It needs an owner-manager with entrepreneurial skills and vision."

Villagers are due to meet on Wednesday to continue plans for campaigning for the pub to be reopened.