VILLAGERS are celebrating the re-opening of their only pub which has been saved from closure.

Campaigning Rock folk are working up a thirst tidying up the under-threat Rock Cross Inn which closed its doors last August.

Villagers are busy cleaning up the building's exterior in anticipation of September's relaunch.

Plans to call time at the inn and sell it off for housing met furious opposition from pub patrons last year.

Now they see its re-opening as symbolic of better times ahead after losing their school, post office and village shop.

Ralph Round, of the pub clean-up working party, said: "This gives us new hope. At one point the future looked bleak as we had lost so much and it looked like our pub may go too.

"There's a real buzz and excitement around the place - we have been without our pub for nearly 12 months.

"It affected everyone in the community because it was our focal point. It was like our town hall - we had many an impromptu meeting there.

"It is more than 200 years old and had never been closed before. After losing everything else it was vital we hung on to it."

Villagers, who at one stage stumped up nearly £200,000 to buy the pub, are delighted to welcome Paul and Ann Baker, of Bewdley, as the new licensees.

They will open the bar for a day for the Rock Show on August 31 but refurbishing work will not be completed until mid-September when the pub will re-open.

The pub came under threat when former landlady Lynn Farr applied to turn it into housing.

However, she withdrew her application before a Wyre Forest District Council planning meeting in December.

In between the pub closure last August and the planning meeting the authority drew up its local plan which outlined the need to protect rural businesses and community facilities such as pubs. However, the plan is not due to be adopted until next year.