VILLAGERS have pledged their support to a derelict pub in Cheselbourne following a fresh attempt to redevelop the site.

The Rivers Arms has been unoccupied since 2007 but West Dorset District Council rejected an application to convert the building into housing earlier this year after local residents stressed the importance of reviving the village pub.

The application has now been re-submitted by Arpac Limited, prompting local residents to rouse support from the village.

A team of villagers went round collecting pledges, whereby residents signed up to spend a certain amount a month at the pub and if they did not spend it they would lose it.

In just a week around half the village pledged their support, committing to spending more than £2,000 a month if the pub was brought back into use.

Residents hope the pledges will help their cause as they again attempt to fight off plans to convert the pub building.

They claim there are interested parties who would be keen to take on the pub, but the site owners needed to offer it at a reasonable price to take into account the amount of work that needed to be done on the site.

Trisha Powell, one of the villagers who has been collecting pledges, said it demonstrates that if someone was to take it on there would be widespread support in Cheselbourne.

She said: “We have had a very good response and we didn’t even have a lot of time, it was a quick shoot round the village.

“It demonstrates that there is a need in the village and hopefully it will encourage any buyers.”

Tiggy Greenwood, vice-chairman of Cheselbourne Parish Council, said that many people said they would also be prepared to spend more at the pub than they had actually pledged and it was just a minimum amount.

She added that the pub would provide a real boost to the village, whereas converting the building into housing would have no overall benefit.

She said: “The pub would give employment in the village and a social connection point, which is really crucial.”

Gwenda Tomlinson, who was among those to speak at the meeting of the district council’s development control committee in January when the previous application was rejected, said that it was wrong to conclude that because the pub had been unoccupied for so long there was no longer a need for it.

She said: “We have missed it throughout that time and we have tried to campaign throughout.”

At the council meeting Ken Parke, representing the applicants, claimed that the pub had been ‘robustly marketed’ but had failed to attract ‘any serious offers’.

He added that there was no prospect of operating a viable business in the village, something local residents hope their pledges will challenge.