"WE liked it so much we bought the business!"

A group of friends who love to holiday at Ribblehead have leapt at the chance to buy their favourite pub, The Station Inn.

The southerners have formed a partnership to buy the isolated inn, which stands next to the historic Ribblehead Viaduct.

The move is most marked for licensee Claire Wilkinson.

Claire ran a Fulham pub close to Chelsea Football Club's Stamford Bridge ground, where on match days the tills would notch up £1,000 an hour and the fans could only be accommodated by moving out all the pub's furniture.

It is a scenario Craven landlords can only dream of, but Claire is determined to make her mark.

Regulars can rest assured though, for there's no plans to turn the inn into the Queen Vic - although they can sample the "two pinter" popular with Chelsea fans.

"You can't deny the area's beautiful and we all enjoy walking and the outdoors," said Claire. "It's got great potential and is a lovely spot.

"We have had a lot of support from locals and have had all the jokes about southerners!"

The friends formed the Batty Moss Partnership - named after the moorland at Ribblehead - to buy the pub.

The partners are Claire, David Hobbs, Chris Brooker, Joe Pannone, Rob Grinstead and Charlie Symonds, who all met while working for Legal and General.

Agents for the sale, Robert Barry & Co, acting on behalf of retiring licensees Neil Warwick and June Johnson, say the inn was sold from an asking price of £275,000.

The pub also has a separate range of bunkhouse accommodation sleeping up to 32 and a two-bedroom apartment for the resident owners.

Claire said: "My old pub was a community pub and that's what we want to create here.

"We want to get involved with the community, as well as the walkers and cavers and try and use local produce."

The Batty Moss partners have taken on Settle chef Trevor Ashmoor and are planning a new menu for the inn. The pub will also be refurbished.

They intend to operate the business on similar lines to the previous owners and build upon the pub's reputation among walkers and cavers, providing maps and trails for mountain bikers.

The partners are also on the look-out for old photographs of the pub which they can put on display.

Commenting on the sale, Haydn Spedding, of Robert Barry & Co said: "2002 saw strong demand for freehold public houses and this has continued into 2003.

"We have a large mailing list for purchasers looking in this price bracket."