A pub is on the hunt for new operators to take over four months after the previous management team put the business into liquidation.

The Lower Buck Inn, on Edisford Road, Waddington, is on the hunt for a new tenant after struggling to keep going following the pandemic.

In September, pub company Waddington Inns, which has been operating the pub, went into liquidation however owner Oliver Clegg was determined to keep the doors open under a new company.

Mr Clegg was asked whether the hunt for a new tenant was related to the business going into liquidation and he said it was not.

Four months ago, Oliver told the Lancashire Telegraph that the Inn struggled to recover from a difficult pandemic, where trade and footfall were reduced and they were faced with unexpected PAYE bills following the furlough scheme.

Oliver, who has run the Inn for more than five years, said last year’s Omicron surge led to Christmas cancellations and staffing problems that left him £25,000 shy of previous years' festive period turnover.

Following liquidation, the team were trying to put measures in place to protect the business from towering energy costs and the cost of living crisis.

The listing, with Colliers, states the Lower Buck Inn is a ‘privately owned and charming, traditional village inn’.

There are three dining spaces, open fireplaces and a heated outdoor dining space.

The inn also boasts five en-suite rooms and a self-contained cottage which would be used by owners or let out as self-catering accommodation.

Begbies Traynor were appointed as the liquidators for the pub and told the Lancashire Telegraph that Red Flag Alert research in September indicated that almost 10,000 businesses across Lancashire (9,926) were experiencing significant financial distress during the second quarter of 2022, with 375 of them being in the bars and restaurant sector.