Future of rare parlour pub secured

Our video was taken inside the Sun Inn, Leintwardine, last year when Flossie was still alive. It was taken by Patrick Campbell and shows his brother Marcus playing slide guitar at a music night.

The future of one of the UK's last surviving parlour pubs on the Shropshire border has been secured.

The Sun Inn at Leintwardine, which was run by Flossie Lane - reputedly Britain's oldest landlady - for 74 years, was expected to fetch up to £300,000 at auction in August.

But a decision was taken to postpone the sale so an offer from a local consortium could be considered.

Local businessman, Gary Seymour, who runs the Fiddler's Elbow chip shop next to the pub, has teamed up with Nick Davis of Cleobury Mortimer-based Hobsons Brewery to buy the pub and secure its future. They have now exchanged contracts through Jackson International and the two-man consortium aims to complete on November 6.

Mr Seymour said: "We are delighted to be able to retain the pub's character. Clearly we need to get it on more of an economical foothold but without spoiling what is clearly a unique pub."

He said that he hopes to launch the pub in the next few months.

The pub, a large 18th-century listed cottage, had been offered at auction following Miss Lane's death, at 94, in June.