A PUB once described as the hub of the community is up for sale.

The Colliers Rest pub, in Firs Lane in Leigh, has been opened since 1908 and was once very popular with families.

The pub has now been closed for six months and former landlady Lisa Ogden says she hopes it is not shut for good.

Lisa and her husband Steven were landlords of the Colliers Rest from 2000 to 2004 and described it as a good community pub.

Lisa, aged 42, from Pilling Street in Leigh said: "I hope it doesn’t close down for good as I want to see it up and running again.

"It was a good community pub and always busy.

"Everyone knows one another around here and everyone looks out for one another so Colliers was always a nice place to go and meet up.

"Sadly like most pubs after the smoking ban it did go downhill and half of the beer garden, which is a big reason why people went there, was sold off to a housing company.

"But I absolutely loved my time as landlady.

"It was a real local pub and working was more like socialising.

"When we had it we had three different community football teams and had a cricket team as well so it was a sporting pub as well as a family pub so it would be nice to see it get back to that."

Residents and former Collier Rest customers also have fond memories of the pub with one remembering how men even had their Sunday dinners brought to them by their wives.

Denise Gunshorn said: " I used to meet my dad and his three brothers on Sunday afternoon for a game of dominoes in the early 80s.

"A few blokes even had their Sunday dinner brought into them placed on the table."

The pub is currently on the market for £170,000 and has an open plan trading area, three bedroom private flat, a beer garden and smoking shelter and a car park for up to three vehicles.