A community drive to save a village pub has raised £50,000 in a matter of days and has been given some Hollywood backing.

The Menter Tafarn y Dyffryn campaign aims to raise £300,000 by Christmas in order to buy the Vale of Aeron pub and run the local as a community enterprise.

The campaign has raised a massive £50,000 in just four days with the grand total now standing at £150,000 – half way from its total.

Actors Matthew Rhys and Rhys Ifans have both bought shares in the enterprise they announced this week.

Matthew Rhys, star of The Americans, took to Twitter to say: “I’ve just bought shares in a pub that Dylan Thomas used to frequent.”

Fellow actor Rhys Ifans, who himself was involved in a similar scheme in north Wales earlier this year, posted a video on the group’s Facebook page saying that he had bought shares and encouraged others to do the same.

In the video, Rhys Ifans says: “I have just bought shares in Tafarn y Vale in Dyffryn Aeron.

“Do what you can, give what you can, to save this amazing pub. Maybe I will see you there.”

Tafarn y Dyffryn’s campaign has had an offer to buy the pub for £297,500 accepted by the current owners, subject to the success of the fundraising campaign. The aim is to raise £330,000 through selling shares, by the deadline of 12 December.

That will be enough to buy the building and start the process of reopening the pub, which has been closed for some weeks when the latest lease expired.

“When the Vale of Aeron closed its doors at the beginning of October 2021 it was a huge blow to the area, threatening the future local economy and the community’s infrastructure,” said Ben Lake, the Ceredigion MP who has now settled in the local area.

“I am extremely pleased to learn about the community’s intention to buy the pub as a co-operative venture, and I am confident that this project will bring substantial benefits to Dyffryn Aeron, both economically and socially.”

Details of the share offer, along with the investment form, are available online on Menter Tafarn y Dyffryn’s website, which can be viewed at www.tafarn.cymru