A COMMUNITY campaign to keep two pubs in the village of Milverton was this week taken up by borough councillors.

The campaign was sparked by a planning applications to turn the White Hart into a home and to convert a barn at the rear into a four-bedroom house.

It would have left the 1,100 villagers in Milverton with just one pub, The Globe, at the other end of the main street.

Taunton Deane councillors were told on Wednesday there was little they could do about it under their present local plan policies.

The draft local plan provided power to protect community facilities such as public houses, but the facility would still be available in Milverton because only one of the two pubs was to be shut.

Planning committee members agreed to defer both applications until January 27 to give them time to look at strengthening their policies on community facilities.

Milverton parish councillors strongly opposed the applications by new White Hart owners, property developer Stowe Estates.

A 227-signature petition was also raised by villagers who objected to the loss of the pub.

Parish council clerk Peter Gladwin said it meant the loss of a vital facility to the village.

Mr Gladwin said: "Judging by the strength of feeling locally, residents are of the same opinion."

He said the sale of the White Hart to a developer took place privately without the premises being advertised to the trade and the pub had been closed since the transfer.

Mr Gladwin said: "The village has had time to experience having one pub only, and it is not liked."

He said another bar in the village referred to by Stowe Estates was a cricket clubhouse which opened after Saturday matches in the summer and only on Friday evenings and Sunday mornings in the winter.

Two letters of objection were received from residents who felt the conversion of the pub and the barn at the rear should be considered as one planning issue and not as separate applications.

They said in the past there had been problems with landlords of the White Hart not being run competently.

"In the hands of a professional it could be a real asset to our heritage village," they said.

They also complained the private sale of the premises precluded potential interested parties, including those with licensed trade experience.

One letter of support was received which said the White Hart had rarely traded successfully for the past 25 to 30 years and was unlikely to do so in the future, as parking was a great problem in the village.

It claimed the look of the pub would be improved by the conversion to a private dwelling.

Deane planning officer Julie Higginbottom said the overriding concern of local people was the loss of a village facility.

Mrs Higginbottom said: "To a large extent I am sympathetic with this viewpoint, but this application has to be determined on planning grounds and on no other grounds.

"The issue to be addressed therefore is whether the loss of a facility such as the White Hart is a valid planning objection."

Mrs Higginbottom said a key factor to arise in a variety of appeal decisions around the country was the need for the council to show refusal of the application would realistically ensure the pub would remain.