Ledbury could be facing the loss of one of its listed town centre pubs after plans were announced to close the White Hart Inn.

Dorothy Baker, landlady of the Church Street pub, has applied for planning permission to convert it into a house along with listed building consent to convert the bar into three separate rooms.

Ledbury is already short of one pub after the fire which almost destroyed the Seven Stars in the Homend in July. Its owners, Punch Pub Co, have stated their intention to reopen it but the restoration work is certain to take many months.

Meanwhile, Ian Baker, Mrs Baker's grandson, said the White Hart Inn had been closed since July.

"It hasn't been paying its way for years so we finally took a decision," he said. "My father had run the place for 13 years and my gran had it for 43 years before that, so it goes back a long way. Our regulars were sad about it but it had to be done.

"It was a house 150 years ago and that's what it's going back to, if we get the permission."

Mrs Baker said there was no one left in the family willing to take the pub on, so the decision was taken to close it.

Andy Ward, of Ledbury Tourism Association and former chairman of the now-defunct Licensed Victuallers' Association, said: "It's sad to lose a pub but this is a unique situation and the owners should be allowed to live in it as a family home if they do not want to run it as a business."

Mark Haslam, the county organiser of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) said that if there was sufficient demand by the pub's regulars to keep it open, then they would be willing to back them.

Kevin Bishop, a Herefordshire Council planning officer, said the would look at the effect closing the pub will have on the vitality and viability of the town centre.

It's also in the middle of a conservation area and we'll be looking at it in that light as well," he said.

Ledbury Town Council will also have a chance comment on the plan before the county council makes its decision.

n Roger Baker, aged 61, of the White Hart Inn, Church Street, pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court on Monday, September 17, to assaulting Trevor John Hughes on Sunday, July 15, and possession of an offensive weapon. The case was adjourned to a date to be fixed for the preparation of pre-sentence reports. Baker was remanded on conditional bail.