MEMBERS of Weston’s town council have shown their support for listing a 70-year-old Milton pub as a community asset and will recommend the nomination to North Somerset bosses.

Campaigners who successfully fought off plans to turn Bristol House pub into a supermarket submitted the application after owners Enterprise Inns put in a last-minute appeal against the decision.

In May the Mercury reported the company lodged an appeal against North Somerset Council’s decision to refuse planning permission to convert the watering hole.

The scheme outlined an intention to extend the pub in Milton Road by a single storey, which customers saw as a way for supermarket giant Tesco to take over.

The campaigners, who submitted 3,000 signatures from people against the plans, have now asked to list it as an asset of community value after it closed it doors for a second time earlier this month - at a time when Enterprise looks to get the planning decision overturned.

Town councillor Robert Payne said at Monday night’s meeting: “It clearly is a community asset, it’s the last pub in that community.

“It’s the sort of thing the localism act is talking about and we should write to North Somerset.”

Even though the pub was reopened in December, the landlord has now left and it is being advertised on Enterprise Inns’ website, asking for an annual rent of £17,000, while it waits on the outcome of the planning appeal.

Cllr Richard Tucker said: “Most of us recall the planning application that was overturned. It aroused strong feelings in the community and I will continue to help them fight.”

Cllr Mark Canniford added: “It does serve a large community. There are a lot of houses and very few places for people to meet, and this is one of them. We should not remove the opportunity for people to meet up. That aspect of being a human being is disappearing rapidly.”