Beaconsfield's Royal British Legion club has been put up for sale - with community groups having six weeks to put in a bid to buy it.

The building, in Candlemas Lane, will first be made available for purchase to community interest groups.

But if, after a further six months, no acceptable bid has been submitted, the building can then be sold to whoever the RBL wishes.

Community groups will have the first opportunity to put in a bid as the property has been formally listed as a community asset. As part of that listing status, the Royal British Legion has had to give notice to South Bucks District Council it intends to dispose of the property.

Any community interest group has six weeks to inform the current owner and the district council it wishes to put in a bid to purchase the property. They will then have the remaining part of six months to prepare and submit a bid, with a business plan as appropriate.

The owner can sell to the community interest group at any time up to the end of the six months, after which they can sell to whoever they want. The sale must then be completed within a further 12 months.

Deputy leader of Beaconsfield Town Council Philip Bastiman said: "Whilst the Town Council would be pleased to see this site protected as a community asset for the benefit of Beaconsfield residents, if a community interest group wishes to safeguard the future of this site, they will need to come forward with a self-funded bid to purchase the property within the next six weeks."