THE LAST pub in the village is to be turned into a family home by an out-of-town developer.

A 'Mr P Roger', who bought the Goodlake Arms in East Challow in June, has now applied for planning permission to convert it into housing.

The pub, which has overlooked Main Street from its rocky promontory for decades, had struggled to pay its way in recent years.

East Challow Parish Council chairman Vanessa Bosley said she personally would have preferred to see it remain as a pub, adding: "It was nice when it was a real focal point for the village."

David Endacott, meanwhile, said he had been in the Goodlake twice since moving to the village in 1977 and said: "It struggled on for so long."

Punch Taverns first put the pub on the market in Spring 2015.

The company first hired London firm property firm AG&G to market the pub as a going concern for six months but the attempt was unsuccessful.

Then in October last year, Punch recruited estate agents Savills who spent another seven months trying to find a buyer for either the leasehold or freehold.

Savills' chartered surveyor Adam Bullas, who led the operation, said he invited offers for the freehold in the order of £225,000, excluding VAT.

In a report accompanying the planning application by Mr Roger, Mr Bullas said the advert was emailed out to 1,500 Savills subscribers.

He went on: "We received a number of enquiries from prospective purchasers, although the majority of interest was expressed from developers/ speculators looking to convert the property to residential use and enquiries from pub/ restaurant operators were negligible."

Mr Bullas said that Savills received a total of 11 enquiries but did not specify how many of those bidders were interested in running the Goodlake as a pub.

Savills finally agreed a contract with Mr Roger in May this year and the pub closed its doors.

Mr Bullas concluded in his report: "The Goodlake Arms is typical of the types of business that we have seen fail. It has a small trading footprint and therefore is only able to sustain a minimal level of food trade.

"It also falls behind other premises and venues (restaurants, pubs, hotels and coffee houses) in terms of providing a modern comfortable environment to drink, dine and entertain."

Savills said 'no interest was shown from parties looking at alternative community uses'.

It also opined that the building would be less likely to produce antisocial noise levels as a family home than it had been as as a pub.

Residents can see the plans online at whitehorsedc.gov.uk using reference number P16/V2911/FUL.