A Wiltshire pub which has been up for sale for the last eight years may become a house.

The owner of The King’s Head pub in Chitterne, Kenton Stone, has appealed to the government planning inspector to convert the pub following Wiltshire Council’s rejection of the scheme in May last year.

The council turned it down because they said the application did not give enough information on how the Grade II listed building will potentially be harmed by the plans.

Mr Stone responded to the council’s refusal and said: “I don’t think they’ve taken in all the information we supplied.

“So many pubs are closing at the moment because of the cost of having a pub.

“We’ve had the pub on the market for eight years and not been able to sell it.

“We’ve been closed since Covid and we did open up to try to have a deal with the village but we couldn’t agree terms.”

He added: “There just isn’t the trade to warrant keeping it open.

“Pubs just seem to be closing left right and centre, there’s not enough footfall in the village.

“We are very hopeful about the appeal, but we don’t know how it’s going to go on the day.

“Hopefully as things are we will get a positive result. The village is too small, there’s only 300 odd people here a lot are kids not pub people.”

In the council report it says the application “would entail the removal of a flat roof toilet to the rear of the property along with internal alterations.

“Internal changes entail creating five bedrooms on the upper floor, one of which has an ensuite.

“This would result in an additional window on the rear elevation for the ensuite, and an additional window on the rear elevation for a bedroom.

“On the ground floor, changes would result in the loss of the servery to create a dining hall.

“A new internal wall would separate the dining hall and the living room.”

Among the comments on the original application there are several residents who objected to the plans.

One says: “The King's Head pub has been a great asset for the community of Chitterne over the years and when it was fully open provided an excellent place for villagers, their friends and those passing through, to meet, eat and socialise.

"In heritage terms the loss to the village of Chitterne of this historic pub would be extremely negative.”

The date for the appeal hearing is yet to be decided.