A GROUP of drinking buddies loved their local so much they decided to buy it!

And the pals, now the tenants of the Hindle Arms, Lower Darwen, plan to put a manager in charge so they can stay in their regular seats in the bar.

Lower Darweners Pete Duxbury, Dave Shaw, Derek Smith, and Geoff Duxbury - all in their 40s - have drunk at the boozer since they were in their late teens.

They say they have grown upset in the past eight years as the pub declined after a succession of different owners.

Now they hope to get the Hindle Arms thriving like the pub they knew 20 years ago after paying an undisclosed sum for the venture.

The foursome only made an application for the tenancy with Scottish and Newcastle two weeks ago and say they are surprised at how quickly their dream has become reality.

Each will keep their day jobs - which include electrical contractor, glazing firm manager, and bathroom showroom manager - and oversee the pub in the evenings.

Derek Smith's name will be above the door, but they all have an equal say.

Pete said: "I have been coming here since I was 18 - I am the longest serving regular in the pub. It's your typical local boozer and is a village pub.

"Being local people, we know what the people want, so we think we can make it somewhere near what it was 20 years ago.

"We want to have football and dart teams. Our football team is linked to another pub at the moment, even though it uses our name, so we want that back.

"The pub came up on the market before Christmas and it has only taken us two weeks to become tenants.

"It's an exciting time for the four of us. We are not going to stand on the other side of the bar - we'll just oversee everything. All the rest will be down to the manager.

"It's a bit of a laugh for us -- it doesn't seem like it has actually happened. The only time we have ever been in partnership before is on the golf course!"