The owners of an Oxford pub are trying to find its landlord after the drinking hole was shut and its furniture and fittings offered for free on the Internet.

John Westendorp closed the General Elliot, in South Hinksey, on Christmas Eve after more than three years behind the bar.

Mr Westendorp shut the Manor Road pub after running out of money because of – he claimed – the high rent charged by Vale Brewery, based in Buckinghamshire.

But now the company has taken advice from its solicitors in a bid to claw back money it believes it is still owed.

The landlord, who lived in the pub with his partner and son, also admitted giving away furniture, carpets and even the boiler from the prize-winning venue – all of which he owned – after advertising a “pub clearance” on the freebies section of the Oxford Gumtree website.

He said: “I am broke.

“They have bled me dry. I have been made skint by the brewery and I have walked out of the pub — end of story.”

Bosses at the brewery had been aware of difficulties at the pub for at least a year, but did not know it had shut until the Oxford Mail approached them about the pub clearance, which was advertised for Tuesday, December 30.

On New Year’s Eve the brewery had the pub boarded up.

Phil Stevens, co-owner of the brewery, said: “The landlord has gone.

“We are trying to locate him.

“The pub has been cleared out and is in no position to trade.

“It has been completely cleared, including the boiler, wood fittings, carpet and furniture.”

Mark Stevens, Phil Stevens’ brother and co-owner of Vale Brewery, said Mr Westendorp owed the company “a substantial amount of money”, but declined to say how much.

He also stressed the items taken from the pub had belonged to the landlord rather than the brewery.

Mr Stevens said he had several meetings with Mr Westendorp since October 2007 and explained the company had reduced his rent by £5,000 a year to try and make the pub a success.

And Mr Westendorp admitted: “I do owe them rent, but I haven’t got the money to pay them. They are going to have to wait.”

When told the brewery was trying to find him, he said: “Good luck to them.”

Maggie Rawcliffe, vice chairman of South Hinksey Parish Council, said the council had been in contact with the brewery and was delighted after being told it was intending to reopen the pub.

She said the council was shocked at the closure of the village’s one remaining pub and added: “We don’t want our pub to die.”

The General Elliot was named the Oxford Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) Pub of the Year in 2006.

Oxford Camra chairman Matthew Bullock said: “It is a shame when any pub shuts because there is a fear it won’t open again.

“The pub wasn’t well used by the locals.”

Mr Westendorp said he didn’t care what villagers thought of the situation, and added: “I have fallen out with one or two of them but they didn’t support the pub anyway.”