A year-long campaign to save a village pub will celebrate a landmark moment tomorrow as it opens for the first time under community management.

The Case is Altered pub in Bentley will welcome drinkers from 6pm on Thursday after months of hard work from dedicated campaigners.

The pub was put up for sale in March 2013, prompting villagers to form a working group that successfully bought the pub under community right to buy rules.

Having spent the past few weeks sprucing The Case up, the pub will hold its soft launch tomorrow ahead of a packed Easter weekend of activities, with the working party’s treasurer Peter Cross paying tribute to the village effort.

“We only got the keys to The Case on Tuesday, 18 February, just seven weeks and one day ago – what other village could turn a building in the state it was left around in that short time,” he wrote on the pub’s Facebook page.

The group’s fundraising effort has so far raised £230,000 to buy the pub, with donations continuing to roll in as it approaches its overall target of £350,000.

This includes a recent £1,600 of investment money in the pub – with shares able to purchase on the pub’s website – while a door-to-door cake sale by two Bentley youngsters also raised money for The Case’s cause.

“Caitlin and Eloise presented me with £23.90 last Sunday, which I think is tremendous and just shows how industrious some of our youngsters are and that this project has grabbed not just old wrinklies like me, but youngsters too,” added Mr Cross.

Much of pub’s fabric has been upgraded or replaced, with a revamp of the pub’s interior and new indoor and outdoor furniture on order.

The pub will be open on a drinks-only, volunteer basis from 6pm, with open evenings over the Easter weekend from 6-11.30pm and Sunday and Easter Monday lunchtimes from 12noon-2.30pm.

Through the summer and the rest of the year the pub plans on opening Thursday, Friday and Saturday 6-11.30pm and Sunday lunchtime 12noon-2.30pm, with some additional hours over bank holiday weekends.

The group is appealing for volunteer bar staff or anyone who can help with the refurbishment.

Fore more information visit www.thecasepubbentley.co.uk or www.facebook.com/SaveTheCaseBentley