NEIGHBOURING communities in Minety were celebrating after planning officers threw out plans to convert two village pubs into houses.

Nearly 100 people from Minety, which has lost its post office and shop in recent years, wrote to North Wiltshire District Council objecting to plans to turn Minety's White Horse Inn into a private house.

Meanwhile in Upper Minety villagers formed a campaign group called Save the Old Pub (STOP) in a bid to overturn similar plans to turn the Grade II listed Old Inn and skittle alley into two homes.

At the district council's area committee meeting at Purton Village Hall last Wednesday, councillors threw out proposals by the White Horse Inn's new owners, saying the pub was a vital village facility.

Planning officers also recommended refusal of proposals for The Old Inn on the grounds of the social, historical and community importance of the pub, but the application, due to come before councillors on the same night, was withdrawn a matter of days beforehand by owners Jim and Alison Bailey.

Mr Bailey refused to comment on why the application had been withdrawn.

Villager Jeffrey Bean, who has been at the forefront of campaigns to save both pubs, was delighted with the outcome.

"The more positive of the two is that the Old Inn may be saved, because it is the only pub in the village."

He thought it had the potential to be an "extremely successful" pub as had been proved by other pubs in the area.

Mr Bean said villagers hoped both pubs would eventually be taken over by new owners who were committed to breathing new life into them and making them successful community facilities.

Referring to The Old Inn, Mr Bean added: "It is a very nice building that has been there for hundreds of years and the general consensus of villagers is it could be a gold mine."

STOP was formed in January following the Baileys' first application, on a much larger scale, to turn the Inn into two houses, with another five dwellings in the garden and the yard behind the pub.

Mr Bean added: "When people move to a village they want a nice, warm, friendly local pub, which is what the Old Inn could be."

The district council sent in independent consultants in September, who decided the pub could be salvaged as a commercially viable business.

Yet Mr and Mrs Bailey claimed most villagers did not use the facility.

Area committee chairman Graham Clarke said councillors wanted to give both pubs every chance of survival to enable them to serve both communities as a focal point and meeting place.

However the future of the pubs remains uncertain with the White Horse Inn still closed, as it has been for several months.

It is unclear whether the owners of The Old Inn will resubmit any further planning applications.