Camelon's Canal Inn offers a heat and cuppa to pensioners

Fraser Cromar, who took over Camelon’s The Canal Inn in the summer, has made his generous gesture to help people in the community cope during the winter months.

And already others are stepping forward to help with contributions towards the refreshments.

Pensioners can pop into the pub seven days a week during the opening hours of 11am to 11pm to enjoy free cup of tea or coffee and enjoy the heat from the roaring fire.

Fraser said: “I believe that the pub has a major part to play in the community and when I heard the chat from customers about people worried about rising utility bills and how they were going to cope during the winter, I decided to do something.

"Before buying the pub I was a store manager with Tesco in Edinburgh and used to be involved with the community side. I knew that this idea might just be a small thing but if everyone did a small thing it would perhaps make a big difference.

"This pub is almost 200 years old and has been very much involved with the community over the years. I’m looking forward to that continuing and if this is one way to do it then I’m happy to do what I can.”

Today was the first day of opening up the seats beside the fire and Fraser said around half a dozen visited to make use of the opportunity for heat and a chance to chat with others, as well as enjoying a cuppa.

He added: “I’ve already had support from others – Tesco Camelon dropped off three carrier bags filled with cakes and biscuits and Henry's Coffee gave us a 3kg bag of coffee beans. It’s great to see everyone rallying round.”

Situated on the banks of the Forth & Clyde Canal next to Lock 16, The Canal Inn is popularly known as The War Office with the name supposedly coming about because it was used as a recruiting office during the First World War, but others say it was during the Boer War.