THE future of the last pub in a Hampshire village is hanging in the balance.

A planning inquiry took place to decide if the Captain Barnard pub, at Compton, near Winchester, could be demolished.

Highwood Residential, based in Chandler’s Ford, wants to replace it with a care home, which is likely to cost £7m. It could provide about 50 beds and employ up to 60 staff, but Winchester City Council rejected the plans last year. The firm and the authority faced each other again at Winchester Guildhall on Thursday when the company’s appeal was heard by a government inspector.

The Captain Barnard closed in early 2008 with the loss of 17 jobs and has been mothballed ever since. The Highwood scheme includes building four detached houses on the site, which would be sold on the open market.