RESIDENTS have rallied to fight plans to close a village’s only pub.
The owners of the Learney Arms in Torphins want to shut the pub, restaurant and hotel. They are asking Aberdeenshire Council for permission to change its use to a family home. However, locals have started a campaign to keep it open.
The pub is used as a meeting place for groups including the Torphins AFC football team, the local bridge club and the golf club.
Torphins Community Council secretary Will Maclean said members would be holding urgent talks on the issue.
He said it would be “sorely disappointing” if the community lost its beloved local.
Mr Maclean said he could accept the business might be struggling but urged the owners to think about the key role the Learney Arms played in Torphins life.
In a supporting letter sent with the application, Sandra Johnston, who co-owns the business with her husband Murray, said the Learney Arms had been up for sale for two-and-a-half years.
She added: “Over the course of the last 18 months business within the hotel has declined considerably.”