SUPPORTERS have rallied around a Malvern pub amid fears its sale will spell the end of a vital hub for live music.

Owner Punch Taverns intends to off-load the Lamb Inn as it repositions its business towards higher-end gastro pubs.

The pub in West Malvern Road provides a platform for young musicians with regular open-mic nights and also attracts more established acts from around the country.

Rob Mason, drummer with local band Funky Junky Monkeys, is supporting the campaign, which is being publicised through a Facebook group and an online petition.

“We have got a healthy scene in Malvern but most of it is a couple of musicians stuck in the corner of a pub,” he said.

“This is the main dedicated venue in Malvern and has been that way for a long time.”

Owen Morgan, of Cowleigh Road, North Malvern, said the pub was the last vestige of Malvern’s musical heritage, which saw big-name bands flocking to the town in the 1970s and 80s to play at the Winter Gardens.

“Malvern has a big tradition of live music going back decades and that has to be preserved,” he said.

“New bands need the opportunity to have breaks at places like this.

“We do not want it to be another statistic on the list of hundreds of pubs up and down the country that have already gone.”

Punch Taverns has announced plans to sell 1,300 additional pubs nationally to concentrate on smaller, higher quality venues in the face of an increasingly-troubled market.

Supporters of the pub fear a new owner may completely transform it or even seek to put housing on the site.

“The danger is that the negotiations are with somebody who is talking about turning it into something else,” said West Malvern resident Martin Taylor.

Mr Taylor has started the Facebook group, called Save the Lamb Venue, and has seen 300 members join already with many also signing the petition.

Spokesman for Punch Taverns Alice Bowden said: “It is always our preference that our pubs continue to trade as pubs.

“However, we do review our estate regularly and may explore other options around the future of our less sustainable sites, or where they might better fulfil their potential for the local community under different ownership.

“Following such a review, a decision has been taken to put the Lamb Inn on the market. The pub remains open for the time being.”