The Royal: Landlord of historic Dungworth pub near Sheffield dismisses community buyout pledges as "rubbish"

The landlord of a historic pub facing closure has said financial pledges to save it for the community are “a load of rubbish,” and “a non-starter.”

Dave Lambert said promises of £250,000 for The Royal Hotel in Dungworth were “way off” the £1.1m he expected to make on the open market.

And he poured cold water on campaigners’ chances of running it successfully, claiming there was little support for the boozer, which had just seven customers on New Year’s Eve.

The Royal Hotel dates back to 1813. It is world famous for its 200-year-old Christmas carol ‘sing’ events and has been home to folk club Royal Traditions for 14 years.

Mr Lambert added: “There’s a massive gap financially and I can’t see that changing unless they get grants or something. The community has not really supported us, people make other arrangements these days. I’m not going to fault them, it is what it is.”

He re-stated plans to close the pub and put it, an adjacent house and bungalow, on the market in March.

‘Save the Royal’ was launched amid fears it would be snapped up by property developers.

The fundraiser calls for pledges of £500 and is aiming for £500,000 to set up a Community Interest Company to eventually buy the building.

Jon Boden, founder of Royal Traditions, insisted there was “everything to play for.”

He added: “We’re at about £250,000 in pledges, which is a long way off, but we haven’t done a push with the local community yet and I think a lot of people who have pledged to buy one share might up it to two or more with a bit of encouragement.

“Realistically we’ll only get there if a few large investors come on board and / or if we can apply for some serious funding.

"But there do seem to be lots of options for the latter and several tentative noises for the former. So everything still to play for I think!”