VILLAGERS have raised a staggering £300,000 in just 48 hours to save their only pub.

The Red Lion in Arlingham was bought for £225,000 the day before the Grade II building was due to be sold at auction by Enterprise Inns.

Resident Edward Davies, who has led the campaign, said the pub, which dates from 16th Century, is regarded as the focal point of the village.

"Everyone in the village was quite upset when we found out the pub was going to be sold. We can’t have a village like Arlingham without a pub," said Mr Davies, who works as a solicitor for businesses and has lived in the village for 11 years.

When Mr Davies went to bed on Saturday, June 1, he was still unsure about how much he wanted to be involved in the running of the project.

However, by first thing the following morning he had written an action plan and hand delivered it to Arlingham's 150 homes with a note inviting everyone to a meeting on the Monday evening - just two days before the auction.

"By the end of Sunday a great deal of money had already been pledged but by Monday evening more than £100,000 had been transferred into my bank account," said Mr Davies.

The following day, Mr Davies set up a company, called Red Lion Arlingham Ltd, and invited villagers to buy shares.

On Tuesday morning, shareholder Anne Teague called the auction house in Newport to ask if they would accept an early offer before the following day's sale.

"They said they would but we had to exchange the contracts and pay a 10 per cent deposit by the end of play the same day," said Mrs Teague.

By 1pm, the company had been registered and VAT registration was underway.

The deposit was paid by 4pm and at 6.30pm villagers were in the pub signing contracts.

Residents are now busy working out how they want to run the pub and will be electing a board of directors today, Wednesday.

Money is still coming in which is being added to the £75,000 left over from the sale and will be used for refurbishment work.

"We have to make this pub a success so that in 20 years time villagers can still go to the Red Lion for Sunday lunch," said Mr Davies.

In March, residents pulled together to save Arlingham chapel, which they feared would be turned into houses, and it will now be used as the village hall.