THESE fearsome red lions from outside an Oxfordshire pub of the same name were auctioned off in January 2014.

New pub owners Chrissie Jones and Alastair Rosie wanted to change the name of the Red Lion in Yarnton, and sold the statues.

Ms Jones said at the time: “There’s been a Red Lion pub here since the 1700s and the lions represent a bit of history.

“We’ve got the go-ahead to change the name of the pub which we’ll be doing in the next month or so.

“We wanted to auction them off in case someone wanted to buy a piece of history, but also so we could raise some money for a playground for the local community.”

The couple announced that they would change the name of the village boozer to The Yarnton Bell, after a bell which hang outside.

However, anyone who goes to Cassington Road in Yarnton today will still find a Red Lion pub there – albeit sadly without its two red guardians, which one stood out front for so many years.