A RAWTENSTALL pub has been sold before auction for £150,000.

Bidding on Madison’s Wine Bar, in Burnley Road, was due to take place on December 5 at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.

But auctioneers Pugh and Co said the venue, formerly owed by Punch Taverns, had been snapped up by a mystery buyer before the event.

Skipton-based surveyors Westlake and Co, which acted as joint agent for the premises, confirmed it had been sold at the ‘significantly reduced’ price. The bar was once one of the most popular in Rossendale.

Landlords including Thomas O’Toole - then thought to be the youngest in the country aged 20 - and H2Inns’ William Holt failed to turn the venue around.