VILLAGERS are fighting to save a local pub they claim is the heart of the village from being turned into a house.

Locals in Welbury, near to Northallerton, are angry over a scheme to convert the Monks Table in the village.

Plans have been entered with Hambleton District Council by Carol and Mike Oldroyd the pub’s landlords.

The villagers claim the closure will strip Welbury of one of its last remaining amenities and they are desperate for it to remain.

Councillor Chris Brown, Welbury Parish Council chairman, said: "We had a parish meeting about this and it was well attended.

"A village pub is the centre of village life with people meeting there.

"It’s been closed for two to three months now but there is a demand for a village pub which serves people food and drink.

"It used to support the local darts and domino teams but now apart from the church it’s the only amenity left.

"There are no shops or a Post Office in the village and the next nearest pub is two miles away at Appleton Wiske.

"No-one we have canvassed has said it wants the pub to close and we will continue to fight."

Carol and Mike Oldroyd took on the former Duke of Wellington pub which was shut for six months and re-opened it as the Monks Table.

Their scheme comes as the British Beer and Pub Association states that 39 pubs a week are closing in Britain.

This is 20 times faster than three years ago and it compares with 36 closures a week in the first three months of last year.

David Stovell, of David Stovell and Millwater, is the agent for the Oldroyds on the application.

He said: "They have been running the pub for two years and they’ve had quite significant losses and with no real evidence of breaking even in the future.

"They based the business on a restaurant and village pub and it is clearly not viable. It’s a very small village and it’s off the beaten track and the surrounding villages have pubs in.

"The pub has been on the market for 12 months and there has been no interest in it."

The district council has been sent a plan to convert the Grey Horse Inn, at West Rounton, near to Northallerton, into a house too.