The village with no women...that's bringing the girls in on buses

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The lads are fed up with nights spent playing pool and darts without flirting, dancing and romance.

So they have decided to lay on buses to bring in single women for a night at their local pub.

They hope dozens of single girls from bigger towns will swamp remote Weardale, County Durham, in a quest for love.

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The frustrated (male) residents of Alston, Cumbria cannot wait until some girls arrive in their village

A similar plan from the men of Alston, Cumbria, which is 12 miles from Weardale, was launched two years ago. Then, Vince Peart, 23, made headlines around the country by setting up a website to persuade women to move to the town.

So the desperate men of Weardale have followed suit.

A shortage of female company means they are having to set their sights further afield. They have invited coachloads of single women from beyond the dale to the Golden Lion for a night out.

Trainee quantity surveyor Simon Hodgson, 20, spoke for a dozen of his pals when he said: "The trouble around here is that we are simply too cut off.

"Alston is the nearest town and there is no point in us going there - there aren't any women for the local guys let alone us.

"Bishop Auckland is 25 miles away, Durham 30 and Newcastle 40. But we decided it would be nice to invite some girls to come and visit us and enjoy some Weardale hospitality."

Another lonely heart, landscape gardener Al Rutherford, also 20, from the village of Ireshopeburn, said: "It would be nice to have some female company here.

"For some reason boys seem to outnumber girls in this part of the world and we've no chance of finding anyone."

The population had declined since the mine closed in 1990 and the Blue Circle plant closed in 2002, , according to local councillor John Shuttleworth who is helping the lads in their efforts to bring some passion to the dales.

He said: "A lot of people living here have come here to retire. No one would move here for the night life that's for sure.

"But for these lads it is their life - they rarely make it beyond the Golden Lion.

"I would like to extend a welcome to the region's young ladies to come to the Golden Lion for an evening out. They are guaranteed a friendly welcome and they may even find romance."