THE planned demolition of one of Marston's last pubs has sparked outrage with the community who say they have very few places left to go for a drink.

The Jack Russell pub in Salford Road has been empty for seven months and in the past week the inside of the building has been tarnished with graffiti and gutted of its copper fittings.

The demolition of the pub, which was sold by brewery Greene King in October last year, is expected to take place next week and, if it does, it will leave only two pubs in the Marston area.

City Councillor for Marston Mark Clarkson said: "From what I've been told, the Jack Russell pub is planned to be demolished next week and I know it's causing quite a lot of uproar in the area.

"It is a real shame to see another one of the area's pubs go."

Although a date has not yet been set, the site is expected to be turned into a three-storey building, containing 16 flats and 19 parking spaces, but Arlington Drive resident Chris Watkins said he was sad to see the pub go.

He said: "I met my wife in that pub and I think it's a real shame that we're losing places left right and centre.

"I wish a lot of the pubs we've lost could have been kept and hope we won't lose any more in the future."

Marston has already seen pubs such as The Friar, on the corner of Marston Road and Old Marston Road, demolished in 2013 and turned into flats, which are set to be named Friar Court later this year.

The Bricklayers pub in Church Lane also closed in 2010 and subsequently became a housing development and the Cavalier pub in Copse Lane followed suit by becoming a block of flats after the original building was demolished in 2012.

Councillor Mick Haines said: "We barely have anything left in Marston and quite frankly the social scene has gone downhill because, apart from the Red Lion and Victoria Arms, we don't have anywhere left to go for a drink.

"Most of them have been demolished or turned into flats, which is a real shame, because Marston used to be quite lively at times.

"A lot of the pubs used to offer you the chance to play darts, live musicians would play great music and you could go for a dance and a good time with your friends but now it's not like that at all."

Councillor Haines added he hoped the area could retain its last two pubs for the sake of the community.

He said: "It's a real shame to have seen fundamental parts of the community torn down or changed and I really hope that we can keep the pubs we've got now because otherwise people really will have nowhere to go."

"My fingers are crossed that we can get things back on track one day."