Two popular Pubs in southern Oxfordshire are facing an uncertain future.

The Six Bells at The Green, Warborough, closed on Tuesday, September 12, while The Crown in Marcham, near Abingdon, has been put on the market by Admiral Taverns.

Brewers Brakspear say they are keen to reopen The Six Bells – famous amongst Midsomer Murders’ fans – as soon as possible but can not yet say when it will reopen.

Brakspear’s finance director David Nathan confirmed that Henley MP John Howell had lobbied the brewery over the pub’s future.

He added: “The pub is closed temporarily and is currently the subject of a legal dispute.

“The pub has featured in the TV drama Midsomer Murders, has an interesting history and is a very important pub in our estate.

“We have 143 pubs and our biggest job at the moment is finding tenants to keep them open.”

Mr Nathan said he “sincerely hoped” the Six Bells would reopen before Christmas but could not provide drinkers with a timetable.

Parish council chairman Michael Herbert, 75, of Thame Road, who has lived in the village since 1968, said: “Until about four years ago landlord Ben Salter ran the pub very successfully for about 10 years before he retired.

“I believe the current landlord got into some sort of financial dispute with the brewery before the pub closed.

“People in the village are quite cross about this. It’s not much fun living in a village without a pub.”

The Crown’s landlady Tricia Allan said she was told to vacate the pub by Friday, September 16 and a temporary landlord would stand in until it is sold.

She said: “It is very, very sad for the village. We hope someone buys it who keeps it as a pub.

“But there is nothing we can do about it ourselves.”

Neil Crook, chairman of the White Horse Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, said: “We would strongly oppose any attempt to convert it to a private dwelling or stop it being a pub.

“As the only pub remaining in the village, Marcham cannot afford to lose The Crown.”

He said pub landlords were facing difficult times due to high rent demands from chain owners and the cheap cost of booze at supermarkets.

Marcham parish council chairman David Walton added: “It will be sad if Marcham loses its pub and we hope it will be taken on by some other publicans who will be able to run it as the kind of pub the village has valued having.”

Admiral Taverns spokesman Mark Stretton said: “From time to time we review the pubs in our estate and unfortunately The Crown no longer fits our criteria for ownership.”

British Beer & Pub Association spokesman Neil Williams said: “When a village loses its last pub, something really special about local life is lost.

“Pubs have faced crippling tax rises in the last three years, with beer tax up by 35 per cent.”

In Abingdon, the Fitzharris Arms in Thornhill Walk was opened as a Tesco Express store earlier this year.

And The Ox in Oxford Road, Abingdon, is in the process of being converted to another Tesco Express store.