The action group battling to reopen the Horseshoe Inn, at Brooms Green, will turn their village hall into a pub this evening (Friday), to demonstrate community support for their local watering hole.

The Horseshoe Inn Companions have already sold over 80 tickets for the event, which will feature traditional pub activities such as darts, shove halfpenny and crib.

They hope the hall will resemble the Horseshoe Inn in having a top and bottom bar. A local artist has also promised to paint a Horseshoe Inn sign to hang outside for the evening.

Peter Feltham, a spokesman for the Companions, said: "It's so we can meet up again and have a social evening; something we've missed since the pub closed.

"This could be the first of many such evenings in the hall, unless the pub opens again. It's to show community support for a pub in our area."

The Horseshoe Inn has been closed since May, when it was bought by Chris Tweedale, the headmaster of John Masefield High School in Ledbury.

Mr Tweedale has submitted a planning application to Forest of Dean District Council to close the inn as a public house, build an extension and reopen it as a bed and breakfast business.