A community group that is aiming to purchase a village pub has raised over £60,000 after its share launch. 

The Black Lion Community Group made community shares for Ireby's Black Lion pub available on Monday, April 15.

Since the launch, the group has been extensively backed by the community who have to date purchased £61,786 of shares, 37.5 per cent of the total offering. 

Malcolm Boswell is a member of the Black Lion Community Group that is aiming to purchase the village pub and explained more about the share launch.

He said: " It is a public share launch for community shares with a minimum purchase of £50.

"No matter what you purchase you get one vote as an equal member regardless of your shareholding and that means that the business is owned by the community for the community."

This share launch also comes as the group, which has been backed by local politicians from all parties, is preparing to submit its final application to the Community Ownership Fund, which will allow the group to complete the purchase of the local asset.

Speaking previously, Malcolm explained why the community group had been formed and why it was seeking to make use of the government funds.

He said: "It started in the middle of last year, the current owner closed the pub down and that was a bit of a blow to everyone in the village and the surrounding areas and then a very small group agreed to explore taking the pub on with the assistance of the Community Ownership Fund (COF), money that the government makes available to community groups to purchase assets of community value."

"It is a community pub and the efforts of the community will be designed to make sure it meets the needs of the community."