Neighbours are fighting to save a beloved Victorian pub in south west London, which has been shut since its former landlord died last year.

The Railway Bell, affectionately known as The Dip, in Hampton, is up for sale for £1million.

The future of the pub, which dates back to the 19th century, has been hanging in the balance after popular landlord Seamus O'Kane died in April last year.

Owner Stonegate Group, which runs more than 4,500 venues in the UK, put the pub on the market for £1m with estate agents Savills earlier this year.

Residents have joined forces hoping to buy the freehold of the pub so they can renovate and reopen it, putting it back at the heart of the community it has served since the 19th century.

The group, known as Save the Dip, hopes to raise the required funds to buy the pub from Stonegate by setting up a community benefit society.

Robert Lee, who is leading the campaign, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) residents and local councillors have thrown their support behind the group, which has quickly grown to more than 450 members.

The Railway Bell, affectionately known as The Dip, has been closed since 2023 but residents are uniting to buy and restore it (credit: Google Maps).

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They achieved their first goal in June when Richmond Council approved Robert's application to list the pub as an asset of community value, which gives the group priority to bid for the pub.

The group plans to set up a community benefit society, which would sell shares to investors to raise the funds needed to buy the pub.

Members are putting together a detailed plan to achieve their vision, which would include renovating the venue, and have raised enough cash to fund a survey of the building.

Robert told the LDRS the group can't let the opportunity to save the pub slip through their fingers, with there being so much enthusiasm among residents to see it reopen.

The campaigners expect to publish their detailed plan to save the pub by September so that it can be discussed with supporters, before moving onto next steps.

Robert said the pub has a beer garden which is a "wonderful sun trap" in the summer, "and it's been really depressing to walk past it in the last few days in this heatwave with weeds growing through the garden… because it was packed with people having cooling drinks on a summer's evening, which is what we'd like to get back".

He added: "We've got a great groundswell of local enthusiasm for it and hope in the end we get it reopened, and have people enjoying the summer's evenings there, or the winter evenings for that matter."

The group's GoFundMe to raise funds for its campaign to reopen the pub can be found here.

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