LEAFIELD locals are celebrating after finding out their village pub has been saved.

A campaign group, set up to save the Fox Inn, which was due to be converted into a house, with the pub rebuilt on a smaller scale on the site, said it was delighted with the result.

Developers are now expected to apply for permission to build two houses on the site.

Chairman of the Save The Fox Community Campaign steering committee, Rich Weinhold said: “We are elated because it means that the whole process can move forward. The sooner we can get the pub open the better.

“It’s really gratifying to know that community input can make a difference.”

Nigel Braithwaite, one of the owners who bought the pub in 2010, said: “The profit from the residential development will subsidise the pub.”

As part of the campaign, 325 residents signed a petition to keep the Fox as it is.

Picture: Mark Hemsworth