The closure of a village pub has prompted a village to make a bid to stop it being turned into a home.

Llanarth Fawr community council has written to Monmouthshire county council to protest at the closure of the Red Hart pub in Llanfapley.

Licensee Jim Sharp closed it at the end of September, blaming the state of the rural pub industry.

He said at the time that if the industry improved he would consider re-opening.

Now the community council has written to the county council as the planning authority asking them not to grant permission for a change of use from a public house into a private home.

However, Bob Taylor, from the council's planning department said: "The owner of the Red Hart does not need planning permission to close the doors of the public house."

There were protests from villagers when the pub closed and the Red Hart Supporters' Club was set up. Its aims are elaborated on a website www.savetheredhart.co.uk.

The membership list is now in excess of 400.

One of the organisers, Sharon Andrews, said: "It is our stated goal to keep our pub, after being the hub of Llanfapley for hundreds of years, from suffering change of use into a domestic dwelling.

"Alterations to the outside already indicate, though, that the closure is permanent, in spite of the claims of it being temporary.

"The Red Hart Supporters' Club is an active body, seeking by as many methods as possible, to bring this change to the wider public, by both fun and serious means.

"Perhaps when our membership reaches 1,000, in this marginal constituency of ours, these concerns will be noted by the wider community."

Mr Sharp did not wish to comment.