People power saves Walsall pub

A pub in Walsall has been brought back to life months after closing its doors suddenly – after hundreds of punters joined forces in support.

The Railway Inn, in Pelsall, had been bustling as usual on a Sunday night but was closed suddenly the following day on May 28.

Regulars had no prior warning and only saw the venue was shut when they popped in for a pint.

Since the Enterprise Inns pub shut, more than 500 people took to Facebook demanding their favourite pub reopened. And landlord Thomas Osborne, who lives above the pub and held a reopening party on Saturday, said he would never have reopened if it had not been for the support of the local community.

The 45-year-old said: "I had a problem with the rent and the brewery, but now I have negotiated a good deal.

"I don't know if I would have reopened if I hadn't got so much support."