BOSSES behind a venue on the brink of closure last year will 'continue fighting' to secure its future.

The team behind Odd Frog Tapas and Live Lounge in Barrow announced in August that the venue would be closing down after three years of business due to the ‘devastating’ impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Duke Street venue was set up in July 2018 by the husband and wife team behind Hartley’s restaurant in Dalton, Andrew and Lisa Turner, and local musician and businessman Jason Berry.

The trio opened the business, situated in the former Drawing Room building, to shine a spotlight on live music in the town, with the aim of giving local bands and musicians the opportunity to perform on stage.

The news was met with shock from the local community, who rallied together to prevent the venue's impending closure.

In the following weeks, the Odd Frog embarked on a fundraising campaign after a flurry of support from the public and hosted an evening to save its future.

In September, the event, known as Odd Frog: Respawn, saw around 50 musicians take to the stage at The Forum on Saturday as they pulled together to raise funds.

An estimated £14,000 was raised during the campaign, which has been described as a 'real boost' for the team as they find other avenues the fund the rest.

And co-owner Andrew Turner has praised the 'fantastic' community support - bus insisted that the fight for Odd Frog's future still continues.

He said: "We’re still fighting and will continue to fight for as long as we can.

"When we announced we were closing, we thought that was it. But then we received such an outpouring of support which has really kept us going.

"The music nights have been great and we’re so grateful for the support from the public and followers.

"It’s still early days but we’re optimistic about the future. It’s like restarting the business all over again and starting from scratch.

"We’ve had some fantastic music nights and the community support has been amazing.

"They are the reason the Odd Frog is still around."