A historic Oxford pub has shut down two years after the landlady spent £30,000 modernising it.

The Osney Arms in Botley Road closed earlier this month – 112 years after it was first built – and could be sold as a going concern or for residential redevelopment.

It had been run by Maria Oliver and her family since 1983.

But Mrs Oliver, 55, said a lack of customers had led her to shut the doors.

She said: “Nobody around here seems to drink, or if they do they must do it at home.”

The mum-of-four spent money refurbishing the pub in 2009 in an attempt to make it appeal to a wider range of customers.

But she said: “It still didn’t work so I thought I should cut my losses and go.”

Mrs Oliver, who lives above the pub, said she would now sell the building but would not say whether she would sell it as a bar or for residential development.

Pub company Greene King sold the pub in 2005 to Admiral Taverns but Mrs Oliver bought it from the firm outright in 2006 with her husband Brian, who died in 2008.

Susanna Pressel, city council member for Jericho and Osney, said: “It hasn’t been making much money recently and the landlady was getting a bit weary of it.

“We are all very sad as we hate to see pubs close. It was a good place to meet local people.”

The George Inn in Botley Road shut in May and was sold by Greene King to hi-fi retailer Richer Sounds, which opened a store there in the summer.

The White House in Botley Road, owned by Punch Taverns, is yet to reopen after closing in December last year.

Oxford CAMRA spokesman Tony Goulding said: “It is the last local on Botley Road until you get to Botley. But it was one of those things – we would have liked to save it but sometimes we are fighting a losing battle.”

He said he feared it would be sold for flats as a developer would offer more money: “It will be a sad loss. The trouble is property is much sought-after in Oxford.”