ALMOST £150,000 has been raised in community efforts to save a Denbighshire landmark.

A Corwen initiative sought to raise £500,000 to buy the Owain Glyndwr Hotel in the centre of the town and turn it into a community venture.

A share issue was launched at the start of March, and when the share offer closed at midnight on November 13, the community had raised nearly £150,000.

Spearheading the fight to save the hotel is the Corwen Partnership, which aimed to sell 2,500, £200 shares to purchase and refurbish the magnificent building, which was already over 70 years old when Glyndwr raised a revolt against the occupying English in 1400.

Corwen Partnership chair David Counsell had previously said of the site: "The place hasn't been used for years by the people of Corwen.

"We wouldn't be expecting, when we buy it, to stop trading."

"I think the other key message is this is as much about Corwen as it is about the future of the hotel itself - the hotel is a key part of Corwen.”

Several fundraising events have been held in the town, and with the deadline passed, the organisers are hoping to raise the rest through grants.

Efforts to save the hotel included donations from all over the UK, and as far as Madrid.

MORE: Thousands raised so far in efforts to save Corwen hotel

The Owain Glyndwr Community Hotel Ltd has been set up by the partnership as a Community Benefit Society and is to issue half-a-million pounds in £200 shares, with a maximum stake holding of £50,000.

One vote is allocated to each shareholder, irrespective of the number of shares.

The group hopes to buy the hotel from local man Ifor Sion, who has kept the hotel for the past 25 years and is offering it for a knockdown £300,000.

Shortly before the deadline passed, Mr Counsell said in a group notice: “The share offer closes at midnight and we’re closing in on £150k.

“There is hopefully a plan B but the more we raise ourselves the better our chances of raising the rest from grants.

“We can take donations later but if you don’t buy a share you won’t have a say in the Hotel’s future.”