COMMUNITY campaigners who saved a much-loved pub have won the first-ever Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Pub Saving Award.

Members of the Gussage Community Benefit Society were handed the prize in November for campaign Save the Drovers.

The committee was formed after the inn in Gussage All Saints was closed without warning in November 2014.

Villagers finally saved from development in March this year.

It was initially sold to a buyer who planned to turn it into a private house.

However, thanks to the work of campaigners, the plans were refused by East Dorset District Council in June last year.

Residents then formed a group dedicated to saving the venue, and the sale was completed earlier this year.

The Gussage Community Benefit Society, which now owns the venue, then launched a major refurbishment to get it ready for the its official reopening, which took place in July.

Volunteers aged between 16 and 82 were involved in bringing the pub back to life.

Sally Marlow, secretary of the Save the Drovers campaign, said: “When our only pub suddenly closed we faced losing the heart and soul of our village and local community.

"What happened after is a testament to the drive and determination of a dedicated group of people from all backgrounds working together for a common cause.

"We are a close-knit village and voted unanimously at a village meeting to fight to save the Drovers Inn.

"The project brought our whole community even closer together.”

The 'pub saving' award was launched by CAMRA this year to recognise communities who have successfully rescued pubs from closure.

Paul Ainsworth, chair of CAMRA’s pub campaigns group, said: “We are losing pubs at a frightening rate of 21 a week.

"However, those rates of closure would be much higher without campaigners like the Save the Drovers group who are willing to pull out all the stops to save their local."

Peter Couchman, chief executive of the Plunkett Foundation - a national charity dedicated to supporting community-owned businesses - said: “When communities like Gussage come together to save what’s important to them, it has a transformative effect on the people who live in the area.

"Co-operative pubs like the Drovers are so much more than a place to buy a drink - they provide really important social spaces and are central to their communities’ sense of place and identity.

"Congratulations to everyone involved in saving the Drovers, and in being awarded this well-deserved accolade.”