VILLAGERS in Chedworth are fearing for the future of their only pub after being ignored by the company that are managing it.

THE Seven Tuns has not had a tenant since Young’s Brewery left in early 2013,  instead there has been two temporary landlords.

The pub called last orders for the final time in January this year,

It is owned by the Wellington Pub Company and managed on its behalf by Criterion Asset Management which said it was unable to find anyone else prepared to run it.

But earlier this month rumours started to circulate that a CAM had finally found a new tenant and residents tried to contact the company for more information.

The emails and phone calls went unanswered, prompting fears that the pub will not be open during a peak trading season.

David Broad a councillor of Chedworth Parish Council and the chairman of Chedworth Village Hall Committee said the pub was popular with tourists and walkers, as well as locals, and missing out on the start of the busy summer season was a further threat for the pub’s future.

“We (CVHC) have tried to make contact and received no reply,” he said. “We are certainly concerned at the lack of communication.

“We are very concerned at the lack of progress, and that the summer season has started.

“The summer season kicks off at Easter and runs through to the end summer. This is when the pub gets busy.

“Traditionally the pub has got extra staff in the summer and then lays them off at Christmas. If they are not opening it soon – it is not going to be viable.”

After Young's left last year the community sprang into action and Chedworth Parish Council had the Seven Tuns officially registered as a community asset, amid fears that if a new tenant could not be found the building would be sold off for housing.

That move means that if the pub is ever put on the market, the local community would have six months to form a bid to buy it.

An action group was also formed – the Friends of the Seven Tuns (FOTST).

Claire Booth, who runs Chedworth-based catering firm Claire Booth Cooks, approached CAM with a takeover bid for the pub last month but was told by the firm that a deal was about to be ‘closed by another party’.

Since then, CAM has stopped responding to enquiries over the pub's future.

Despite repeated phone calls and emails from the Standard, CAM refused to reply.

To join the Friends of the Seven Tuns visit the group’s facebook page.