FORMER Top Gear presenter James May says he has bought "half a pub" in a village near Salisbury.

Mr May tweeted "I've just bought half a pub #TheRoySwallowcliffe" on Saturday.


The Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe, near Salisbury, has been shut since the coronavirus lockdown started in March.

Local residents welcomed the news on social media, with one saying on Twitter: "Brilliant news!

"We have been looking forward to the re-opening of #TheRoySwallowcliffe with much anticipation - it is a super pub which has been greatly missed by us over the past couple of months."
In 2012, local residents fought off a planning application to turn the building into a house.

It was later bought by local investors and reopened in 2015.