AN Exmoor village pub has been put up for sale as the landlord prepares for his second retirement, this time permanently.

Malcolm Passmore bought the Lion Inn, Timberscombe, in 2016 after it had been closed for a long time and oversaw its renovation and reopened it in 2017.

It was run by tenants until the coronavirus pandemic struck, and post-Covid a second couple took it on but left last September due to the workload.

Retiree Mr Passmore has since been opening for limited days and hours to suit his lifestyle.

But now he has decided to sell-up for good and the character property, which still has many original features such as exposed timbers and a wood burner to support heating and water, has been put on the market for £375,000.

Mr Passmore said: “I am 75 and I do not want to do it any more.

“I shall sit here until it does sell. It is a good pub and I am surprised nobody has had a look at it.”

Mr Passmore, an Exmoor man who went to school in Simonsbath, was not planning to do anything in his permanent retirement, but said: “I will stay around this area.”

The Lion Inn is being marketed through Rightbiz, which said the pub currently had a turnover of £120,000 per year, or an average £2,308 a week.

But a Rightbiz spokesman said: “Historic financials support the assumption that a projected turnover of £360,000 per annum could be easily achieved by competent operators.”

The property has self-contained five-bedroom accommodation for the owners above the ground floor bar and restaurant areas, and also has a games room, a ‘snug’ with pool table and darts throw which was used by two darts teams, an upper sun deck and outside tables, and an unused skittle alley/function room.

The spokesman said it would be an ‘ideal family operation or husband/wife team/partnership (chef) in a beautiful location equidistant of both Minehead and Tiverton’.