EastEnders and Hotel Babylon star joins fight to save Middle Barton pub

The actor has joined the villagers campaign to buy the currently closed Fox Inn under community ownership after its owners, Stonegate, decided to sell it.

Local residents set up the Protect Our Fox company in 2021 with the aim of raising enough money to buy the pub and secure its future.

Now, less than two months before the bid-to-buy the pub's deadline on December 27, the community is making a final push to save the Grade II-listed 16th-century inn and restaurant.

Tamzin said: "We moved to the area in 2019, and we absolutely love it here. The Fox was a lovely, traditional village pub, and it’s a big part of the reason we chose to buy a home here.

"Every village needs a pub, and The Fox was a hub for everything that happens in the Middle Barton. I have pledged my support and would encourage others to do so too. Even if you don't live here, this is about saving a very precious bit of village life.

"I believe we should all help where we can, which is why I founded the group ‘We Free Women’. I am really looking forward to working with the community owners to keep The Fox local; plus, I also have a passion for upcycling furniture, and as the pub is being sold completely empty, the community can count on me to help."

Richard Brown, MBE, from the Protect Our Fox Community Interest Company, said: “The local community has signalled overwhelming support for the Save Our Fox campaign. In just a few weeks, we received pledges for £122,750 for the campaign.

"We are so proud that our community is supporting this so fully; we still need this and more to convert to shares and put in a bid before the deadline of December 27.”

The Protect Our Fox group has run a number of open days throughout the year to fundraise and detail their ambitions to turn the pub into a community events hub once purchased.

For more information on the campaign, visit the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MBcommunitypub