URGENT measures are desperately needed to protect Fareham watering holes from being snapped up by land hungry developers, a residents' group has warned.

Fed-up members of the Fareham Society say planning chiefs should draw up strict new rules to stop developers calling time on pubs and bulldozing the vital community hubs.

The plea has been made because several pubs in the borough have disappeared under new housing developments.

The Belle Vue in Lee-on-the-Solent has already been demolished, the Swordfish in Hill Head has been approved for housing and The Sarisbury in Sarisbury Green has been snapped up by builders.

Villagers in Hamble clubbed together to raise £1m to buy the Bugle Inn to save it from developers who were granted permission to build 14 luxury flats. Over the years many more pubs have been lost and now Brenda Clapperton from the society is calling for action.

She said: "There is no protection in the planning system for facilities like this. If it is possible the local plan should have a policy to protect them.

"It is a great blow to local communities when these pubs are taken away, and they are not usually replaced. They are important to give places a sense of community, where people can meet and have fun.

"The big problem about having huge numbers of houses is that the infrastructure doesn't keep up. We are not getting enough investment in schools, doctors and all the services people require."

Alan Wells, head of planning at Farnham Borough Council, said the proposed policy is a possibility but he said whether it would work is questionable.

He said: "The aim is laudable and some authorities do have this kind of policy.

"But due to social changes

pubs aren't used as much as they used to be and this could be the root problem."

Tina Chant of the Licensed Victuallers Association - which represents landlords - warns that even more pubs are going to be sold off by struggling landlords.

She said: "It is hard to say no to this sort of money. Pubs are facing lots of problems and this money could mean a secure retirement."

She said that pubs face huge cash problems with many people turning their back on their local pub and going to trendy bars instead.

She added: "We are in the same situation as corner shops were with the supermarkets ten or 15 years ago."