North Shropshire residents battling to save their mothballed village pub have set up their own campaign to put pressure on brewery bosses.

Residents met last night in Welshampton, near Ellesmere, to discuss the way forward and get the Sun Inn reopened at the heart of the community.

They officially launched the SOS campaign, Save Our Sun, and it was agreed to set up a meeting with new owners Admiral Taverns to see if the pub’s future could be secured.

The pub was shut in March by Punch Taverns, causing outcry in the small village, and a steering committee was set up by residents so they could put their case forward and get the Sun Inn reopened.

However, fewer than 24 hours after the meeting Punch Taverns announced it had already sold the pub, along with 868 others, to Admiral Taverns.

Today, Welshampton resident Richard Jones confirmed there was a good show at last night’s meeting in the village hall, with 18 people, and future open meetings would be held for others to have their say.

He said: “There was progress made and the committee is going to contact the brewery and invite a representative along to our next meeting. The meeting will be held next month to see what they have in mind.”

He added that as part of the SOS campaign the committee would also look at ideas that could be put into practice should it reopen.

However, villagers have said their overriding desire is to see the boards taken off and the popular pub opened as quickly as possible.

Admiral Taverns has previously said it will assess the opportunities each of the 868 pubs it bought presents.