PLANS to redevelop the site of a derelict Cradley pub have run into opposition from locals residents as well as the Campaign for Real Ale.

David Woodward has applied to Herefordshire Council for permission to demolish buildings surrounding The Crown and convert it to residential properties.

Mr Woodward has owned the site for about 11 years and says there is little business viability in reopening the pub. He now has plans to convert it and the adjacent barn into three new dwellings as well as adding another four dwellings to the Bosbury Road site.

But residents are angry at what they say will be the continued over-development of the village, while CAMRA say it will mean the permanent demise of another country pub.

Mark Haslam, area organiser for the Hereford and Worc-ester branch of CAMRA, said that although the pub had not been open for around 15 years, building on the car park would remove the possibility of the site ever being a pub again.

"We will be asking the planning committee to determine that all reasonable efforts have been made to assess the viability of The Crown as a pub including marketing it as a pub on the open market.

"We believe to convert the pub without going through this marketing exercise would be premature and would deprive a sizeable community of a very useful amenity."

Cradley resident Alan Robinson said that the situation was indicative of rising property prices killing rural pubs.

He added that while the majority of villagers in Cradley were not bothered about the presence of a pub, they were against the continued development of land in the village.

Mr Woodward said he originally bought The Crown with the intention of reopening it as a pub.

"Nobody's interested in building pubs. They're not a good institution to invest capital in.

"I'm trying to improve the buildings that are here. The area's run down, it's restoring the building to its former glory."

He pointed out that the pub had been closed for 15 years and the Prancing Pony and Red Lion pubs in nearby Stifford's Bridge already served the local community.