TWO pals who despaired over the current decline of local pubs have joined forces in a bid to buck the trend.

The pair have formed their own pub chain Blackcountry Ltd in an effort to entice drinkers back and they opened their first pub in Brierley Hill in December.

And now they are scheduled to add a second in Cradley Heath over the next six weeks.

But partners Steve Letherbarrow and Scott Dudgeon don't intend to stop there.

Scott, from Kingswinford, and his business partner from Quarry Bank, said: "The plan is to open between ten and 20 pubs over the next two years."

All of their pubs will be known as the Blackcountryman and will look the same in appearance and style.

They have already transformed former Brierley Hill pub The Laurel in Stourbridge Road.

And they are now putting the finishing touches to the former Essentials store in Cradley High High Street which is set to open as a new boozer in April.

They also have their eye on two more likely premises in Quarry Bank and Pensnett.

All of the pubs will operate as Free Houses as they intend to sell a number of locally brewed real ales, including Enville Ale, Pardoes and Holdens.

Scott insisted the pubs would be run on a simple formula and launched a scathing attack on the major brewers.

He said: "It's all about selling good beer at the right price.

"At many pubs these days, you find their hands are tied. They have to buy their beer from a certain place and a certain price, but we can do what we want.

"We intend to sell our beer at £2.50p a pint, although ciders and largers will cost a little bit more.

"We can make sufficient profit on these prices so there's absolutely no reason why breweries should be charging so much more.

"I get the feeling some of the big breweries don't really care about their pubs at all, it's just about making money and I think they'd be quite happy just supplying the beer.

"As a result, they've become greedy and because of that, they are driving people away from pubs with inflated prices to the point where some people now prefer to buy their beer from a supermarket at a much cheaper price and drink at home.

"But that isn't doing anything for society. Pubs are hubs of their communities and we want to bring that back."

Scott confirmed they decided to open a pub over a pint themselves and they originally planned to make the Cradley Heath Blackcountryman their first one, but when The Laurel became available they decided it was too good an opportunity to miss.

He added: "We're not necessarily looking to bring old pubs back to life. Some pubs need a great deal of money being spent on them. We're looking at all sorts of premises, whether they be old buildings or shop units.

"We will also make sure that all our managers are hands-on and people know who they are.

"At some pubs you never get to meet the manager at all and then they wonder why people aren't coming into their pubs."