The loss of another of Abingdon's old pubs is a threat to the town's social life in the evenings, according to a councillor who voted against converting the building into homes.

he Horse and Jockey pub in Bath Street

The Horse and Jockey pub -- a 17th century coaching inn with a courtyard in Bath Street -- closed last year and is to be converted into five flats after the Vale of White Horse District Council's development control committee agreed to the change.

But councillor Terry Cox said he regretted the loss of the pub, and a member of the public who spoke at the committee meeting attacked owners Greene King for allowing the Horse and Jockey to close.

Mr Cox said: "We have seen a long list of pub closures in Abingdon over the last ten to 15 years and that worries me. It is having an impact on social life in the evenings in the town and the loss of the Horse and Jockey is another nail in the coffin."

Marjorie White, a member of the now defunct Abingdon Folk Club whose members were regular performers at the Horse and Jockey, also criticised the closure.

Ms White said: "Abingdon has lost so many pubs in recent years and can ill afford to lose any more. Pubs are part of the fabric of a community and the loss of another will severely impoverish Abingdon, forcing people to go outside."

She claimed the pub had been neglected over the years and said Greene King should not be allowed to sell the pub site for what could be a profitable residential development.

But a spokesman for the architects, Lee Batterby, said after extensive discussions with the council and conservation officer, the residential development was seen as the best way to preserve the historic building. Mr Batterby said: "In recent years it was hardly used as a pub and suffered because it was on the other side of Stratton Way and cut off from the town centre. It was run down and suffered a decline.

"A number of people tried to operate the pub, but were unsuccessful."

The building will be retained along with doors, cobbles in the courtyard, a wooden fire escape at the rear and an old Morland plaque on the front wall of the building.

District councillor Tony de Vere said nearby residents had suffered noise, pollution and disturbance from the pub.

District councillor Julie Mayhew-Archer said it would be a lost amenity for young people who enjoyed music, but Richard Gibson said pub closures were happening across the country not just in Abingdon.

"From what I can see, Abingdon is lively in the evenings at weekends and we are talking about pub closures at a time when the Wetherspoon chain wants to open a pub in the old Congregational church in the town."

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