HUNDREDS of people have joined a campaign to stop their local pub from being converted into a private home.

More than 500 people have signed a petition and around 60 people have lodged individual objections against an application to turn the Shurton Inn into a private house with four ancillary letting rooms.

Current owners Jeff and Sarah Bryant claim they have no choice as takings have plummeted and no-one has come forward to buy the pub as a going concern.

Mrs Bryant said she has been shocked and upset by the animosity shown to her family as a result of the plans and said the pub would still be open if the people now lobbying against them had supported the business.

Opponents accused the couple of being the authors of their own misfortune by having erratic opening hours and overpricing the pub for sale as a business.

They said the closure had ripped the heart out of the community and local people had always supported the pub in the past.

Mrs Bryant said the inn's opening hours, which saw it closed at lunchtimes during the winter and on Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes in the summer, were not unusual for a country pub.

She said: "We were lucky if we had five people in here for lunch on a Saturday.

"No-one has spoken to us personally about it and we've been shocked and upset by the response.

"It was not an easy decision to make, but it wasn't pulling in enough money to support us."

The inn closed last October for what locals believed was going to be an extensive refurbishment.

Villagers expected the pub to reopen in April, but the doors remained closed and Mr and Mrs Bryant submitted an application to West Somerset Council for permission to convert the inn into a private home with four letting rooms.

Campaigners, under the banner Save our Shurton, said villagers were dismayed at the prospect of losing a pub that had been at the heart of local life for well over a century.

"As word spread that a planning application had been submitted, there was initially a sense of betrayal, dismay at the thought of this fantastic pub having called last orders and a real sadness and recognition of just how big a loss this would be to the community.

"It has historically been a central hub of the parish and larger community including Stogursey and is the only amenity for Shurton, Knighton, Burton, Wick and Stolford," a spokesman for the group said.

But agents acting on behalf of the owners said local people had had plenty of opportunities to buy the pub themselves, but no one had come forward.

In a statement submitted with the application to the district council, the agents said Mr and Mrs Bryant had no choice but to cease trading in October as the business was no longer viable.

Having bought the pub for £525,000 in 2006, they had seen turnover drop from £218,500 to £152,147 in 2010.

The couple blamed a drop in passing trade from Hinkley, competition from numerous other pubs and bars within a few miles around Shurton and the lack of customers living close by.

"Shurton hamlet has a small population of approximately less than 40 dwellings which is not large enough to support the business.

"It is in an isolated location and does not benefit from passing trade. It cannot be supported by villagers alone," the statement said.

Mr and Mrs Bryant had hoped the premises would be used as a "preferred location" for potential Hinkley C workers, but that application was not successful and the threat of an on-site Hinkley campus meant it was unlikely trade would be boosted by the proposed new power station development.

"In October 2008, the applicants applied for a brown tourist sign to be displayed on the nearby A39 in order to increase the likelihood of passing trade. However, that application was refused.

"The applicants have employed every reasonable method to try and increase business over the last two years, in particular promotional events.

"The consistent and prolonged low level of trade, despite the extensive promotions and advertising, is not sustainable and has had a significant impact on the viability of the business," the agents said.

They said the couple had been trying to sell the pub for the last two years and had dropped their asking price from £525,000 to £495,000; an estimated £50,000 below the value of the property.

But despite "extensive marketing" no buyer had been found: "The lack of interest is linked directly to the lack of viability, which can be easily viewed on the accounts.

"Local residents within the close knit community were well aware that the Shurton Inn was up for sale.

"Therefore, local residents were given sufficient time in which to purchase the premises if they so wished, or alternatively, form a joint co-operative," the statement said.

But Stogursey district councillor Chris Morgan said he fully supported the rising tide of opposition to the application.

Cllr Morgan said: "The pub always did well from passing trade until the owners reduced the opening times to the point where no-one knew when or if it was open.

"Local people became fed up with walking to the pub, only to discover it was closed and started to use alternative pubs."

He said just one week's warning was given in October that the pub would be closing, with customers told it would reopen in the spring following extensive refurbishment.

"Early in the New Year it became apparent that the pub was on the market, and would certainly not be reopening," Cllr Morgan said.

He said the pub was a potential "gold mine" with the current proposals on the table for Hinkley C and described the inn as far more than just a place to eat and drink.

"It served as a meeting place, somewhere to do business, somewhere to catch up with local events, meet friends, make friends and hear the latest news.

"The closure of this pub has torn the heart out of hamlets that are about to be

devastated by Hinkley new build and is just an example of asset stripping in

its worst form - as a business its worth a lot less than a private dwelling."

The campaign group spokesman said district councillors had a duty to protect rural services.

"We acknowledge West Somerset Council cannot force the applicants to trade, but what they can do is to turn down the application for change of use, thus the building can be retained as a licensed premise.

"If the building is eventually sold it would then still be eligible to reopen as a pub."

The application is likely to be considered at the next district council planning meeting on June 30.

Photo: Steve Guscott