RESIDENTS of a Monmouthshire village have lost their fight to save the local pub. But owners Mike and Pauline Parker say the Hostry Inn at Llantilio Crossenny will not be turned in to a house for a few more years.

The couple - who won the right to convert it in to their retirement home - say the pub will remain in business for now as trade has revived following the closure of a neighbouring rural inn.

Mr and Mrs Parker were refused permission by Monmouthshire county council to change the use of the public house, and a further scheme to convert the adjoining hall into a home.

But a National Assembly inspector upheld their appeal. Mr Parker said: "I am 60 next year so this gives us five years to decide what to do, but in the meantime it is business as usual at the Hostry Inn.

"We've got a few more customers since the Halfway House Inn, at Talycoed, closed, so we won't be closing down for some time yet.

"But if we decide to retire when I am 65 we can put the Hostry up for sale as a public house or as a home, which makes it more marketable."

But Councillor Bill Price, the Monmouthshire county councillor for Llantilio Crossenny, said he hoped it would not close: "We've lost the shop and post office, so I'm glad the Hostry is staying open for now because to lose it would be another blow to the community."

When the application was first made it attracted many objections to the change of use, including one from Llantilio Crossenny community council who stated their decision had been based on the overwhelming wishes of Llantilio residents.

But Assembly inspector John Wallis, who heard the planning appeal in Monmouth, said there had not been enough local support for the inn.

He said of residents: "The majority, as far as we can judge, seldom set foot in this establishment to support its viability. While I recognise there has been a drastic fall in the number of traditional village pubs this has largely come about by changes in public taste. "The facts are that the Hostry Inn is being subsidised by the appellant and his wife."

Mr Parker said he and his wife bought the Hostry in 1985 for £122,000 and spent £70,000 renovating it and converting the hall into a function room and skittles alley. Mrs Parker now works full-time as a dietician because the net profit in the pub has fallen from about £15,000 a year to just over £2,000.