A PUB owned by villagers received a big boost at the weekend thanks to an evening of nostalgia over the road.

A George Michael tribute entertained a large audience in Stoke St Gregory Village Hall on Saturday evening.

The act was booked by the village hall committee, but it ensured the Royal Oak had one of its busiest evenings.

Local Paul Kenefick said: "This was a bold move on behalf of the village hall committee to book the tribute band and it was a smashing success with a sell out audience.

"The evening also helped to boost the takings at the community village pub the Royal Oak as most of the audience visited the pub before and after the event to celebrate the evening."

The Royal Oak opened for the first time under community ownership back in April, when Pete Nicholas, whose father Alf ran the pub in the 1940s, pulled the first pint.

The community in and around Stoke St Gregory raised the money through a Heart of the Village share offer to buy the pub premises after it closed.

Local people were spurred into action amid fears the village could lose its heart after the pub and the village shop closed.

Volunteers spent many months transforming the building, which now also includes the village shop, a café and part time post office.

The volunteers continued to work on the premises when the first lockdown arrived in March last year, while the village shop was temporarily located in a shipping container.