VILLAGERS in Milverton have been warned they may be too late to save their only public house The Globe Inn unless more of them start drinking there.

A drop in takings over the bar means the pub is threatened with closure in the next month, which in turn would jeopardise a bid to take it over as a community-run enterprise.

Milverton Community Benefit Society has been trying to raise £580,000 to buy the pub from Mark and Adele Tarry, who want to move on after running it for 18 years.

It is awaiting the outcome of an application for a £300,000 Levelling Up grant from the Government which would take it close to the target.

But a spokesperson said this week: “The time has come for our community to step up.

“We have been asking for your help for sometime now to invest in our plan to buy The Globe.

“We need you to get out there and use The Globe, now. We need you to spread the word that The Globe is still open for business.

“Because if we do not come together as a community right now, the doors will be closing sooner rather than later.

“Despite Mark and Adele having been patient with our fund-raising efforts, the election delayed the decisions over the available Government grant funding.

“The big problem is, that with all this talk of ‘saving The Globe’, footfall into the pub has dramatically fallen.

“Their takings have fallen in recent months and they are now in the very real position of considering the early closing of the pub.

“We need to get the word out that our village pub is very much open for business right now.”

The spokesperson said the village was in danger of losing the pub within the next month as Mr and Mrs Tarry had said they would have to close the doors unless business picked up immediately.

Mrs Tarry had been working a full-time job outside the pub for the past few months on top of keeping the bar running, and Mr Tarry was now also looking for a job.

The spokesperson said: “There is little choice left without customers through the door. Collectively, we have the power to change that around.

“Quite simply, there have not been enough people using the pub over the last three months to make it financially viable.

“Apart from Mark, the employees are our young people from Milverton, who will be in danger of losing their jobs.

“Over the last few months the turnover has fallen short of the money needed to break even, let alone make a profit in order to sustain Mark, Adele, and their family.”

The society appealed for residents to help by popping in for a pint or for dinner, to tell other people about the Globe needing their immediate help, and to not put off doing so until it was too late.

Opening times were Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, as well as Sunday lunchtime.