Residents in a Bucks village have joined together to form a community group with the goal of buying a local pub and restoring it to its former glory.

Members of the Loudwater community came together to celebrate the rejection of a proposal to turn a former public house in the village into a block of flats on Thursday, September 7, but, as campaigner Mick Parsons noted, the work of residents wanting to reinstate the much-loved boozer has only just begun.

At the meeting, the newly formed Derehams Inn Community Group called on people in Loudwater and further afield to buy a membership for £5 and contribute to a ‘fighting fund’ going towards the set-up expenses of a community-owned pub.

Attendees were also asked to fill out a questionnaire to help the group gauge the views of local people and which services they would want the community pub to provide.

The fund is just the first phase of a journey to ultimately secure The Derehams Inn as a functional business, owned by residents, another facet of which is a crowdfunding campaign raising money towards the purchase of the pub.

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Members have already succeeded in re-listing the historic building in Loudwater as an Asset of Community Value back in April 2023, but lead campaigner Mick Parsons said the fight was far from over.

He told the Free Press: “The Derehams Inn has been a pub since 1860 and was run successfully by Graham and Maggie Sturgess for over 20 years.

“We’re thrilled that we’ve got the pub re-listed and have the backing of people in and around Loudwater, as well as support from local MP Steve Baker.

“However, this is just the start. We believe the trend towards pub closures is an urgent problem that needs to be addressed before these treasured establishments are lost forever.

“We have been fortunate enough to have received advice and support from The Craufurd Arms pub in Maidenhead, which became a community pub in 2017 and have also begun collaborating with The Boundary Arms in Pinkneys Green, Maidenhead, who are at a similar stage in their journey to save their pub.”