VOLUNTEERS who have been running the Kings Arms in Monkton Farleigh have announced that the pub will be closing its doors after one final blowout.

The keys to the pub, which has been run by locals for the past six months, will be handed back to Punch Taverns after one last drink on Saturday. The current landlady, Joy Spiers, has been running the 150-year-old pub since its previous owners agreed to let the villagers run it until its lease expired.

Ms Spiers, 39, of Broadstones, said: “We will be closing the pub on Saturday so we will be having a big party for the locals and for anyone who wants to come along. We will be opening from 7pm and inviting everyone to come along and help us use up the rest of the stock we still have here.

“We took on the pub on September 1 so it will have been six months. Because the lease has ended on the pub we will be having to hand the keys back over to Punch Taverns. We have no idea what will happen to it yet.”

The reopening of the Kings Arms was met by residents with joy, providing a busy clientele base for Ms Spiers and the other volunteers.

“We had a very busy opening night when we took it over and now we are hoping to have an equally busy closing night too. I am sad to see it close as I used to be a regular here but it will be nice to get my weekends back. I never knew how difficult and busy it could be to run a pub, but it has been very fun,” added Ms Spiers.

“We were hoping that in the time we have been running it that someone would come along and take it over but sadly it hasn’t happened.”

At the start of the volunteers’ running of the pub, pub operator Punch Taverns fully supported the plan for it to continue serving until the end of the lease.

A Punch spokesperson: “We are currently recruiting for a temporary publican to take over the Kings Arms to ensure the pub remains open and trading. We will then market the pub for a publican to take on a long-term sustainable lease and look forward to serving the local community for the foreseeable future."