Sun Inn auction delayed

An auction to sell one of the UK's last surviving parlour pubs on the Shropshire border has been postponed. The plan to auction The Sun Inn at Leintwardine has been delayed.

The delay comes after an offer was submitted to buy the pub.

The pub was run by landlady Flossie Lane for 74 years. She was believed to be Britain's oldest landlady when she died, aged 94, in June.

The pub was expected to fetch up to £300,000 at auction on August 27.

But today, estate agents Jackson International made the decision to postpone the sale so an offer could be considered.

Peter Hicks, for Jackson, said: "The auction is postponed at this stage while they consider an offer from a local consortium."

The listed property was due to be auctioned at the end of the month following Miss Lane's death, aged 94, in June.

However, villagers feared it would be snapped up by developers.

The pub has been run on a temporary licence by volunteers since June and the Herefordshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, together with residents, began a campaign to keep its ownership within the village.

Mark Haslam, for Camra, said today: "As far as we are concerned, we understand there is a consortium who have made an offer for the pub. We believe that offer has been considered."

A petition at www.savethesun.org.uk has already attracted hundreds of names. Miss Lane and her brother Charlie took over the family business in 1935. When he died in 1985, she continued single-handed.