A VILLAGE near Cirencester could lose its last pub after a move to list it as a community asset has been rejected leaving residents devastated and angry.

The Grade II listed Seven Tuns in Chedworth has been operating since around 1610 and has been the hub for the community for centuries, hosting wedding parties, funeral wakes, birthday celebrations and anniversary events.

Societies such as the Investment Club, the Chedworth Gardening Club, Hill Valley and Lawn Tennis Club and Chedworth Cricket Club, have all held their meetings at the pub.

The Parish council nominated the historic pub to be listed as community asset last year after it closed for the third time in 10 years.

However, this bid has been rejected by Cotswold District Council.

Members of the Seven Tuns Action Group (STAG) are outraged with this decision and have been campaigning to save the pub's future.

STAG chair Patricia Langley said: “How can anyone say that a pub that’s been at the heart of the community for 400 years is not a community asset?

“We find it astonishing that CDC should have reached such a conclusion. The shop has gone, there is only one pub left in the village and now that is under threat.”

She said: “The only way to ensure the future of the Seven Tuns is for the local community to buy it.

“We are going to set up a Community Benefit Society to hopefully buy the pub, so that it can be run and enjoyed by locals for generations to come.”

This comes after the publication of the Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) pub closure statistics, which revealed that over 1,200 pubs closed their doors to their communities in 2023.

CAMRA’s South West England Regional Director Peter Bridle said: “To lose the last pub in the village would be terrible for the community of Chedworth.

"Pubs are not only a place to enjoy a pint of beer, but also play an integral part in people’s social lives and wellbeing.

“Pubs, social clubs and brewery taprooms all provide a safe place to congregate with friends and family and where locals can feel part of a greater community.

“Too many pubs have already had to make the difficult decision to close their doors for good due to the ever-rising costs of goods, high energy bills, unfair business rates, as well as customers tightening their belts due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

“In many areas and villages, pubs provide the last remaining public meeting space, with meeting halls and post offices already lost.

“Local economies benefit greatly from pubs, as they create jobs and increase footfall on the high street. I really do hope that the beautiful Seven Tuns can achieve an ACV listing and help secure its future, for the sake of its local community.”

The Seven Tuns Action Group hopes that another landlord will be able to take on the historic pub, but the threat of closure hangs over the village.

A council spokesperson said the Seven Tuns Inn nomination was not successful because it did not include enough supporting evidence.

“At Cotswold District Council we very much value our communities and since 2011 when the Localism Act was brought in, we have added many properties to the Council’s Assets of Community Value List,” they said.

“Whilst we try and accommodate the community where we can given our role, the Seven Tuns Inn nomination did not include enough supporting evidence and failed to meet the criteria laid down in the Localism Act and therefore could not be listed as an asset of community value.”