VILLAGERS are campaigning against plans to turn a historic pub into a bed and breakfast hotel.

Peter Madden, 70, is leading a campaign to stop The Plough, in Clifton Hampden, from becoming a B&B on a permanent basis after the owner applied to South Oxfordshire District Council for a change of use.

The pub has been closed for more than a year.

Father-of-two Mr Madden said the village pub was one of the reasons he and wife Rosemary moved there in 1977.

He said: “The Plough was a very popular pub for villagers, especially on a Friday night. We can go to the Barley Mow but that’s quite a walk and it can be dangerous because of the traffic.

“The pub has a lot of history and served the village for more than 600 years, dating back to the Civil War. If it can be a pub for 600 years then it should still be commercially viable as a pub.”

Chris Neill, chairman of Clifton Hampden Parish Council, who also owns the village store, said: “The parish council has objected to the application for a permanent change of use to a B&B. The pub has been listed as an asset of community value for two years and villagers would really like to see it open as a pub again.

“Unfortunately, we can’t force the current owner to run the business as a pub, but we can object to the change of use application and carry on our campaign.”

Focal points like pubs, halls and pavilions can be registered as assets of community value, which gives local residents a six-month stay of execution to give them time to put in their own bid.

The Plough hit the headlines in 1993 when then owner Yuksel Bektas stunned the pub trade by declaring the pub a no smoking zone years before national anti-smoking legislation was brought in.

As part of his campaign, Mr Bektas brought in entertainer Roy Castle to give a concert.

A former landlord carried the Olympic torch at the 1948 London Olympic Games and the torch used to be on display in the pub.

During the Civil War, one of Oliver Cromwell’s top generals, Sir John Hampden, suffered serious wounds at the battle of Chalgrove and is believed to have stayed at the pub.

Plough owner John Ya was not available for comment.