PUBGOERS in Chipping Norton have been dealt a further blow after a plan was submitted to turn a watering hole into flats.

A bid has been made to convert closed The Bell Inn, in West Street, into two homes, and build a further two new homes on the plot.

Three out of eight town centre pubs are closed, with The Albion Tavern and Off The Beaten Track also shut.

West Oxfordshire District Council last month gave permission to knock down The Albion Tavern, in Burford Road, for seven homes.

Patrick McHugh, a council member for Chipping Norton, said: “I believe, at one point, there were 22 pubs in the Chipping Norton area.

“One of the things is that people are getting out of the pub habit, with so many Government incentives given to supermarkets to sell cheaper alcohol.”

He added: “I think it is very sad to see so many close. But if the culture changes, it is difficult to support all the pubs. It’s not their fault.

“They are just getting the rug pulled under them from all directions.”

In its planning application for The Bell, developer Giantflow said the last ten to 15 years had “seen a dramatic shift in social drinking trends”.

Pubs had been hit by cheap supermarket alcohol, a ban on smoking in public places, tightening of drink-drive legislation, and a drop in income for the lower-paid, it added.

It states: “The net effect has been a marked rise in pub and hotel closures. Only in highly-populated urban areas can pubs survive on wet sales alone.”

The pub got through 157 barrels in 2003, but this fell to 67 in 2008, it added.

It states Punch Taverns sold the pub after the “collapse of the business”, and said the venue was “within reasonable distance” of the King’s Arms, also in the town centre.

And uncertainty surrounds the future of The Swan at Ascott-under-Wychwood, after plans were submitted and then withdrawn to convert it into two houses. The pub would be relocated to a small barn on the site.

The council received 63 letters objecting to the planning application for the Shipton Road pub. But the plan was withdrawn before the council took a decision.

Owner, Richard Lait, told the council the pub was no longer “economically viable”, and he wanted to convert it into two houses and relocate the pub to a small barn.

According to the pub’s website, it underwent “an extensive refurbishment” when Mr Lait took over to “blend country character with a contemporary touch”.

In an objection, one resident told the council: “We feel that the loss of the only public house in the village would be detrimental to the community as a whole.”

The council’s case officer had recommended councillors to refuse the plan.

Mr Lait was not available for comment.

Council planning officer, Jonathan Westerman, said: “It has not been demonstrated that the existing use is not viable or that the proposal will provide adequate and accessible alternative provision.”