The Skinny Dog (formerly The Greyhound) in Churchill Avenue, Southcourt, was bought for £600,000 by the Toheed Ul Islam Association, a registered charity, earlier this month.

They plan to turn it into a mosque and community centre, removing all traces of alcohol that was once sold at the pub- which has been closed and boarded up for several months and was recently damaged in an arson attack.

Mark Greig, managing director of Paramount Investments, which handled the transfer, says the sale demonstrates the state of today's pub market.

He said: "If a local Islamic group can see the value in a shut-down pub and give it a new lease of life, then maybe it will encourage publicans to look at some of the prices on offer in today's marketplace."

He said the sale demonstrated that a flexible approach to pub sales was the only way forward for property sellers.

"Sitting on pub stocks until a trade buyer comes along is suicide. We have to be prepared to seek out and find buyers from all walks of life."

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