Villagers are banding together in a bid to buy their 500-year-old pub, which you might just recognise from an ITV series.

Gordon Milligan has owned the Swan on the Green in West Peckham for around 23 years and is now looking to sell up.

But rather than seek to convert the pub – which dates from 1526 – into housing, he approached villagers and asked if they wanted to take it on.

Their answer was ‘yes’ and so a steering group has been formed to co-ordinate a bid to buy it.

Unlike many villages where rescue attempts are made after the business has failed, the Swan on the Green is still a successful pub with a popular restaurant.

It was even given something of a tourist hotspot after it was used to film episodes of the popular BBC programme The Larkins.

The comedy series, the latest spin-off of HE Bates’ novel The Darling Buds of May, starred Bradley Walsh as Pop Larkin and Joanna Scanlan, of The Thick Of It fame, as Ma.

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At the time, Kim Mitchell, assistant manager said: “It was really lovely seeing our little village actually on television.

“My daughter also has a photo of my granddaughter with Bradley outside the pub.”

Ray King is the chairman of the 11-member steering group set up to purchase the building for the village collectively.

He said: “Mr Milligan has kindly given us six months exclusivity to come up with a plan and we have very recently agreed a price with him.”

The group has its next meeting on December 5 to take the scheme forward.

The idea is to set up a Community Benefit Society, which is like a company except there are members, not shareholders, and no dividends are paid.

Unusually, everyone who invests in the project gets a vote, regardless of the size of their investment.

Mr King said: “We are looking to source funding from the Community Ownership Grant scheme, part of the Government’s Levelling Up programme, and will of course be seeking donations from local villagers and businesses.”

On changes the group might want to make, he said: ”There are probably some things we would want to do – maybe a new toilet block and a refit of the kitchen.

“So we would be looking to raise more money than just the purchase price, but it should be possible. We’ve had a lot of support already.

“We will be looking to run the pub as a business, with a manager.”

The pub employs five full-time staff as well as a number of casual workers.

Mr King said: “It plays an important role in our community, and not just in West Peckham but wider afield with our neighbouring villages.”

The project has been given the backing of Tonbridge and Malling MP Tom Tugendhat, and county councillor Sarah Hohler (Con).

The group is looking for pledges of support – with a minimum donation of £250.

The sale price has not been disclosed.

To find out more, visit the villagers’ website here.

Over the centuries, the pub was named The Swan, then The Millers Arms, Honest Tom’s and eventually back to Swan on the Green in 2000.

Previous owners also used the site as a bakery and most recently a microbrewery.