A community group set up to save their local pub from permanent closure look like they have won their battle.

Villagers in Crosby-on-Eden, near Carlisle, joined forces earlier this year in an attempt to keep The Stag Inn open and launched an ambitious fundraising effort.

Initially the group believed they needed somewhere in the region of £150,000 to be successful in buying the pub from Marston’s Brewery.

Their deadline to stump up the cash expires early next month.

In a major breakthrough, Peter Milnes, chairman of the Crosby-on-Eden Community Association, said the group has “come to an agreement” on a price – which has not been disclosed – to buy the pub and have begun the purchasing process.

Mr Milnes, who was the pub’s landlord between 1999 and 2006, said: “We just need a little bit of extra financial support to take us forward.

“We virtually have the rest of the money for what we need to do. We’ve still got vacancies for other memberships or shareholders.

“As I’ve said, we think we have the rest of the money to purchase the pub but we still need shareholders to come forward to enable us to develop the pub.

“We’re now looking at phase two.”

The pub has been shut ever since it was flooded during Storm Desmond in December.

But the premises has been up for sale for about two years and usage had been steadily declining.

The villagers’ group set themselves up in the hope they could take it over and turn around its fortunes.

Apart from losing a village service, residents were concerned that the building could have been sold off for a housing development.

To give the group time to prepare their bid they made a successful application to Carlisle City Council to temporarily halt any proceedings, giving the community time.

They invited any interested people to come forward and make donations and buy shares or memberships to raise the necessary cash.

Now, with the purchase nearly complete, they are looking for ways to generate the funds to restore the pub to its former glory.

“We’re also looking for companies who might be able to help out in some way, for example by offering us some furniture or supplies. We’re looking for their generosity to help out our community,” Mr Milnes added.

“We’ve all worked hard but we still have a long way to go and we’re on the final leg to buying the building’s freehold. It’s the community that has really come forward to do this.

“We’ll be happy to get it opened again for the community. It’s the focal point of the village.

“Even though we know there’s a lot of work to do we can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’ve got a village hall that we can’t really use at the moment because of Storm Desmond, so we need to get this open.”

Mr Milnes said in total about 75 people have been involved with the effort to keep it open.

If successful in their bid, they hope to have it reopened before Christmas.

Anyone interested in supporting the pub can contact the association by calling 07921913768 or via email on staginncommunitypub@gmail.com .