Local MP Stephen Crabb has joined ranks with Hayscastle Cross community in its all-out bid to buy the village pub.

Y Cross has served the community for the past 160 years and now, having spent two years on the open market, the village is doing all it can to take it over as a community-run pub and hub.

“I was delighted to visit Hayscastle Cross this morning to meet with local volunteers who are working to raise the funds to take Y Cross, Cas-lai, public house into community ownership,” commented the Preseli and North Pembrokeshire MP on social media.

“I was interested to hear about their successful share offering and was impressed by their fundraising which is being fuelled by strong community support. We spoke about the importance of communities having places for people of all ages to meet and get together, and I was encouraged by the local enthusiasm for this project.

"Local initiatives like this capture the essence of the Government’s Levelling Up vision, and I’m pleased to have supported their application to the Community Ownership Fund.”

Y Cross is the only pub in the village of Hayscastle and the only one within a radius of three miles.

For the past 160 years it has been run by the Phillips family but now, with no buyersprepared to come forward, the local community is determined to not only buy the pub but to enhance its role at the centre of village life.

 “Should the doors of the pub close it would be very damaging for the local community,” project chairperson Geraint Evans said in an interview with the Western Telegraph.

“It would deprive residents of one of the last remaining local meeting places where people can congregate regularly and enjoy community gatherings.”

A steering group was set up last autumn to investigate its potential community purchase as well as the development of a hub facility which will hopefully incorporate a mobile bank and post office, a small shop and a transport hub.

The project needs to source £500,000, comprising £250,000 from a share offer and £250,000 from available match funding.

A detailed project evaluation has been undertaken by a team of community volunteers and a business plan and share offer documents have been produced. These have been scrutinised by hospitality and catering experts as well as local accountants.

The project has had strong support from the local community with around 80 people attending all three public meetings while locals are keen to dedicate their time and skills to its success.

Over 130 community feedback questionnaires have been returned to the steering group, with overwhelmingly positive responses on how the pub and its buildings could develop in the future.