One of Falmouth's best known pubs has been sold after 45 years in the same family – and it's being taken over by another very well known family.

Owned by the Hancock family since 1977, 5 Degrees West will now be going forward with new owners, in the form of Joe and Sam Healey, part of the Healeys Cyder family.

After three generations involved in the running of the business, current owner Victoria Hancock has made the decision to retire.

She said: “It is with mixed feelings that I have decided to sell the pub, but I’m absolutely delighted that the new owners are another Cornish family, Joe and Sam Healey, and that they will be continuing with the tradition of a family-run business.

"I wish them every success in the future and hope they will love this business as much as we have over the years.

"This is definitely the end of an era – but the beginning of a new one!

"Everyone of a certain generation in this town has a ‘Pirate’ story to tell, and I hope those stories and memories will continue to be made in the future."

Many locals will remember the venue for live music at The Laughing Pirate, before it was taken over by the Hancock family and became the pub people know today.

Over the years the lease has been held by various tenants, including at one time St Austell Brewery, but the Hancock family has continued to own the building throughout and in 2009 took it back again to run themselves, as a true family business.

Now taking on the pub and its history are brothers Joe and Sam Healey. Their family owns Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm at Penhallow near Truro, which has been making Cornish cyders, wines, spirits, juices, preserves and sauces for four decades.

David Williams, a partner at Murrell Associates' Truro office, which advised on the sale, said: "This was a heart-warming deal to do, with a second-generation independent operator in a genuine retirement position being able to sell to another second-generation family business, based within 20 miles, looking to diversify.

"The commitment from all parties to start and finish the sale in a month, against the backdrop of a busy trading period for them both, was particularly commendable.”