CHEDWORTH residents concerned about the continued closure of their pub, The Seven Tuns, will be able to attend a public meeting to discuss its future at Chedworth Village Hall at 7.30 pm on Thursday,March 13.

The pub closed last March after owner, the Wellington Pub Company was unable to agree terms with the tenant Mr Davenport-Jones, following Youngs Brewery, the previous lease holder, ending its lease.

Initially the locals persuaded the Village Hall to open its bar on certain evenings to fill the gap but the pub has since reopened twice with temporary managers, with the last one leaving abruptly in January 2014.

Since then,  the pub has been closed as no managers have been found to run it by management company Critereon Asset Management (CAM), which is looking after the pub until a new tenant is found.

Due to widespread concern, Mr Iain Robertson, the Parish Council’s IT expert formed the Friends of The Seven Tuns Facebook group and organised the public meeting to discuss the future of the Seven Tuns.

Possibilities to be considered at the meeting are for the community to purchase the freehold if it becomes available and support for a local businesswoman who is known to be putting together a business plan to reopen the pub.

The meeting will also look at options such as support for the pub if it does reopen and to raise awareness of the desire of the community to keep the Seven Tuns as a Pub and not to lose it as happened to Chedworth’s other pub the Wagon and Horses some years ago .

Last year, Chedworth Parish Council applied successfully to add The Seven Tuns to the Community Asset Register, which prevents its sale without residents'  being aware of the sale, and with an eye to residents’ being allowed to bid to own it.