VILLAGERS are waiting for a report to help decide the future of a closed down pub in West Dorset.

They hope to receive the results of an independent probe into the viability of the Old Swan at Toller Porcorum.

Members of the SOS Toller, Save The Old Swan group, have been campaigning for the pub – which closed 11 years ago – to be re-opened.

They raised the issue at a recent full meeting of West Dorset District Council, which awarded a £3,000 grant for the study into the business case for the pub.

Jeremy Stavenhagen, from the SOS Toller group, said after the meeting: “The report is imminent. It will go to the parish council and then to West Dorset District Council. Then they can make their comments.”

He added: “We are also going to write to every councillor to tell them what our case is.”

Palmers Brewery, of Bridport, closed the Old Swan 11 years ago when the landlord left.

Campaigners have been pushing for the district to issue compulsory purchase orders for the Old Swan and the closed down Three Cups Hotel in Lyme Regis to allow communities to breathe new life into them.

John Grantham insisted that the council had the power when he attended the authority’s full meeting.

He added: “The loss to the pub at Toller is felt by such people as the bed and breakfast and the caravan site. It is at least £15,000 a year.”

Council leader Robert Gould said at the meeting that the council was monitoring the situation.

He said: “The approach that the council has adopted in the case of the Old Swan and the Three Cups has been to use its statutory powers and pressure of negotiation to persuade the owner to bring these buildings back into proper condition and use without the need for the council to acquire them.

“This approach has had some success, with architects and other professionals now appointed by the owners to prepare a planning application for the Three Cups and the owner of the Old Swan offering a nil rent for five years in order to assist the preparation of a business case by the local community.”

He added: “The executive has agreed that the situation be monitored and a further report made in March.”