Fundraising event in bid to save The Ironworks in Oswestry

Stever Gore, who runs The Ironworks in Church Street with his wife Roslynn, has been told by his bank that the venue will be auctioned on September 12 unless he raises the money.

The Save The Ironworks weekend will start at noon on Saturday and continue on Sunday, with a number of local bands taking part.

Mr Gore said: "We seem to have built up quite a level of interest. We've had a lot of people come in to offer their support. With fundraising events like this it's all looking very positive."

The bands say The Ironworks is an important venue that must be kept open. Alan Price, from Oswestry band Tombstone Billy, which will be performing, said: "We love playing here, it's our favourite place to play. It's somewhere really worth fighting for."

He added: "I just hope the whole community can come good and do what they can to keep this place open.

"They get some really great acts playing here."

The event will have free admission, but people will be able to "buy a brick" for £20 to support the fundraising drive. If the campaign is succesful, they will become part of a Community Interest Company which will then run the venue.

Mr Gore said: "Our weekend of live music will have one of the best line-ups Shropshire will have seen in a very long time. Starting from midday on Saturday, the music will continue across the whole weekend in a bid to help us raise awareness of our Save The Ironworks campaign and invite people to help us keep The Ironworks alive by simply buying a brick.

He added: "With acts such as Fight The Bear, Portlights, String The Marionette, Thin Vision, Mark Morgan, Ed Crowley, Craig Edwards, The Innocent, Moana, Tombstone Billy, Gregory S. Davies Band, Dai Robs and Tom Stedman all confirmed and more still to be announced, this will undoubtedly rank amongst the finest weekends of music The Ironworks has ever seen."