A HEADINGTON pub which closed this year has been bought for £600,000.

The Quarry Gate was sold to Seville Developments of Rugby, Land Registry records show.

The 1937 watering hole was boarded up last month. It was first put on the market in January 2011 for £899,000.

Seville was not available for comment on its plans for the pub.

Any move to change the use of the site, such as for housing, would need planning permission.

Oxford Campaign for Real Ale spokesman Tony Goulding raised concerns it would not reopen.

He said: “The problem is that it’s a prime site for any development.

“It’s a shame for the regular locals who have had their pub sold from under their feet.”

And he said it adds to disappointment over the closure of the nearby Crown and Thistle by Greene King – which it said was “unviable” – in January last year. Oxford City Council last month gave permission for three, four-bedroom homes on its car park.

Chris Meeson, landlord of the Masons Arms, in Headington Quarry, said: “I am disappointed to see all the pubs closing, but things in the trade are nothing like they used to be.”

“It’s unfortunate, but so much has changed over the last 10 to 15 years. It’s tragic, but I can’t see the Quarry Gate pub reopening.”

Former Quarry Gate barman Steve Jenkins, who now owns The Chequers in Headington Quarry, said: “It’s a crying shame that another pub has shut, but you have to move with the times.

“You can have one bad month and that can make things really difficult.”

Kennett Road resident Stephanie Jenkins said: “It’s just a shame that it has been sold as it’s another community asset that is going.

“We are getting more people in Headington, but fewer assets all the time. A lot of things in Headington have closed which had been there a long time.”

Seville director David Exley is also registered as the founder and director of Oxford housing maintenance firm DW Contractors.