A Fife village that starred in the Outlander series has been congratulated in the Scottish Parliament on their efforts to save the last remaining local pub.
The current owners of the Red Lion in Culross, Fife, are set to retire, and locals have been hard at work raising cash to take over the pub as a community.
A successful crowdfunder has bought their dream closer to reality, with £83,090 raised by supporters.
The Red Lion is the only remaining pub in Culross, which doubled as Cranesmuir in Outlander.
After support from Outlander star Sam Heughan, their efforts have now been recognised in the Scottish Parliament through a motion by Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Claire Baker.
“The Red Lion Inn has a long history of serving the local community and visitors to Culross and I send the current owners my best wishes for their retirement.
“This community ownership bid is a great opportunity to secure a future for the Inn with additional community benefits and I wish them success with their bid,” Ms Baker said.
Tim Collins, chairman of Culross Development Trust, said previously that the pub would be sadly missed if it closed for good.
Residents want to see the Fife pub maintain its traditional character, rather than allow it to be bought by a chain or turned into a house.
The current owners, David and Ann Alexander, have said they will sell the pub to the community if they can raise the cash.
“It’s more than a village pub, it’s a tourist attraction in its own right,” said Tim.
He previously told The Courier: “The pub is absolutely great and very popular but the current owners decided way before the pandemic they were going to retire and put it on the market.
“We decided that rather than see it go to a developer, we would make every effort to buy it as a community.”
With the funds raised, local resident Graeme Downie said he hoped the community’s hard work would pay off soon.
He told The Courier: “The Red Lion is such a great place to go for food and drinks, it’s got such a great atmosphere.
“During the summer, it helps bring tourists to the area and keep local people employed.
“The work that Tim and everyone else is doing to try and keep it as a focus of the community is fantastic and I really hope that work pays off and we see a community-owned pub soon.”
Residents of Fife ‘Outlander village’ launch bid to save their only pub