PLANNERS on Exmoor have refused a controversial application to convert a village public house to holiday accommodation.

Trudi and Mark Underhill closed the George Inn, Brompton Regis, at the end of July after three years of financial struggle.

They said there had been ‘just too few customers to make it viable’ and they could no longer continue to subsidise it.

The couple applied to Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) to convert the 16th century pub to six-bedroom self-contained holiday accommodation.

But the move caused an outpouring of anger in the local community at the potential loss of the pub and even saw MP Rachel Gilmour raise the issue with a question in Parliament to Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Reed.

Now, Brompton Regis parish councillors want The George designated as an asset of community value to make it harder to sell, and a Save The George action group wants to talk to Mr and Mrs Underhill about making it a community-run pub.

ENPA planning officer Yvonne Dale used delegated powers to refuse Mr and Mrs Underhill’s application.

Ms Dale said the authority received 98 letters expressing views on the application, 76 of them raising objections and 18 in support, with the remainder making other comments.

A petition opposing the conversion had also been signed by 178 people.

Ms Dale said The George was subject to planning policies designed to safeguard local commercial and employment services unless there was no longer a specific need or they could not be made viable in the long-term.

She said financial information submitted by Mr and Mrs Underhill did not convincingly demonstrate The George was not viable, and the number of local comments received suggested it was highly valued as a community facility.

Although in some pre-Covid years the pub made a loss, it also had profitable years before Mr and Mrs Underhill purchased it.

Ms Dale said the pub was not for sale so there was an absence of marketing information to show whether or not there was a demand for it, and there was no evidence to show any alternative uses had been considered.

A Save The George group spokesman told the Free Press this week: “We are pleased with the result of the planning application, and thank the national park for clearly applying the rules they set out.

“The pub will not be turned into a holiday let, and will have to stay a pub.

“There has been significant support shown by the local community for The George to continue operating as a pub, and we would be delighted to meet with the current owners to hear their plans and discuss with them the possibility of the pub re-opening.

“If the pub is to be put up for sale, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss buying it as a community-owned pub.

“Such ventures are becoming increasingly common in the South West.”

Mr and Mrs Underhill told the Free Press this week they were ‘taking advice and considering our options’.