VILLAGERS are being urged to bombard planning bosses with letters in a bid to save their local pub.

Campaigners want to secure the future of Forest Heath Hotel in Sway, which closed last year.

But developer Trans-Aqua (Guernsey) Ltd has submitted an application to turn the Grade II listed building into a block of flats. Now Friends of the Forest Heath Hotel have pleaded with residents living nearby to have their “final say for Sway” and help keep it as a watering hole.

They want sustained pressure on members of New Forest National Park Authority (NPA) before they meet later this month.

In November, more than 100 protesters packed a public meeting to voice their anger at plans to turn the pub into six flats, with two houses in the grounds. During the meeting it emerged that the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) is also objecting to the proposal.

Villagers are hoping to defeat the application, buy the property and turn it into a community pub – with investors owning a share in the business. The building is said to be worth at least £350,000, which means residents would be required to invest between £50 and £50,000 each. Campaigners have also attempted to enlist the support of Prince Charles, through His ‘Pub is the Hub’ movement.

They have urged those who oppose the plan to write to the NPA before its planning committee meeting at South Efford House on December 21.