A COMMUNITY group which wants to convert an abandoned pub into an eco-restaurant and coffee shop has been awarded around £140,000.

The Meadows Partnership Trust will use part of the cash from the British Gas Green Streets energy fund to install solar panels on the roof of the former Toll Bridge Pub, in Embankment Road.

It will also use the money to assess 100 homes for energy efficiency and provide 20 households with funding for larger renewable energy installations, such as solar panels and insulation.

Jacqueline Dobson, community regeneration manager at The Meadows Partnership Trust, said: "We are delighted to have won this funding for all the people in The Meadows. Too often our community hits the headlines for the wrong reasons.

"Through Green Streets we are determined to create a carbon neutral community which inspires pride in all our residents."

The former pub, which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland and managed by Scottish and Newcastle, has been closed for over 18 months.

The trust is currently in talks about buying it and hopes to secure further funding from other sources for the purchase and refurbishment.

If successful, it could be open for business in six to nine months.

The group found out on Tuesday night it had won their bid for the £140,000 from the British Gas Green Streets energy fund.

It had to pitch against three others in the East Midlands in front of a selection panel made up experts from the Centre for Alternative Technology, British Gas and the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). The event was held at British Gas' training academy in Leicester.

In total, almost 100 projects from across the UK applied for the British Gas Green Streets initiative, where a total of £2m will be invested in 14 community energy projects across the country.

The four short-listed projects in the East Midlands were judged according to their potential for energy efficiency savings across the entire community, on renewable power generation and their ability to engage the support of local residents.

Scott Boose, of British Gas, said: "What really impressed the judging panel was The Meadows' passion and vision.

"Through making a focal point of their disused community pub they are trying to drive the regeneration and revitalisation of an entire community. We are looking forward to working with them to make this a reality."

The Meadows group even made a mascot, called Wilf Meadows, who helped present their plans to the British Gas Green Streets project.

jon.robinson@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk