Tony Weston (centre right), sacked manager of the Pembroke Arms at Fovant, with pub chef Steve Long (centre left) and villagers outside the pub which is currently closed. THE Pembroke Arms, in Fovant, has closed suddenly, leaving its manager and staff without their jobs and the village without a pub.

The pub, which is the venue for darts and cribbage teams and a quiz league, was shut last Wednesday.

Its closure has cast doubt over the future of the First World War museum housed in the pub and which is visited by people coming to see the Fovant Badges - the emblems carved into the chalk hillside by British and Commonwealth soldiers.

But this week, owners Tony and Eileen Crooks confirmed they had no intention of selling the pub and would be reopening it on February 7 under new manager Jan Trevett.

Tony Weston, who until last week was the pub's manager and its joint licensee with Mr Crooks, is distraught. He says he is losing his livelihood and his home.

Mr Weston (59), a retired police officer and experienced landlord, said that Mr and Mrs Crooks visited the pub last Wednesday with a woman he now knows was Mrs Trevett.

"Mr Crooks said to me 'It's not working, I am closing the pub and this lady will be taking over'," he said.

"And that was it - he gave me a letter of termination and I was given a month's notice to quit the premises.

"I was shocked, as I feel I have turned the place around. This is my third pub - I enjoy the work and I want to carry on."

Mr Weston, who took on the pub at the end of September, added: "Everybody has expressed support for me, not only in Fovant but in other villages."

Mr Crooks said he and his wife were retired people who had bought the pub as an investment and were happy to let a manager run it.

He claimed that not enough people in the village had supported the pub.

"Now they are jumping up and saying 'Do not close the pub', but we are not closing it," he said. "It is reopening on February 7 with a new manager, whom we have known for a long time, and everyone is welcome."

He said Mr Weston was "a nice chap" but he could not "fit the From page 1

job description". Mr Crooks added: "I gave him the job on his background and kept him on for three months - we have given him a good run."

He said he was happy that Mrs Trevett would "do the best for us" and added she was currently interviewing existing staff with a view to their staying on.

He went on: "We have spent £73,000 on the pub, including a new kitchen and electrics.

"We are extending the beer cellar and putting in a new preparation room, prior to building a new restaurant. I do not feel we are to blame."