Local drinkers were stunned when David Cameron popped into their newly reopened pub to wish them all the best.
The Prime Minister and Witney MP visited the launch party of The Fox in Leafield, near Witney, last Thursday night for a pint and a natter with regulars.
Brewery Admiral Taverns closed the village’s only pub in January last year, spurring a group of patrons to launch a Facebook campaign to get it reopened.
With 325 signatures, almost half the village’s population, backing their crusade, they started negotiations with co-owner Nigel Braithwaite. He agreed to a major refurbishment and to run it as an independent freehold, to the delight of drinkers at the pub.
Mr Cameron said: “I was so pleased to be able to attend the reopening of The Fox in Leafield. Our pubs are often the heart of our villages and this is a great example of a community coming together to save something they value. The high rate of pub closures is a serious issue and it must come down.”