A VILLAGE pub and hotel which has served the community for thirty years is set to close.

The Oxfordshire Inn in Heathfield, near Bletchingdon was bought by a private buyer in April last year, with the hotel then valued at £895,000 by Savills.

Less than 18 months after buying the 16,089 sq ft 28-bed hotel owners confirmed this week that it would be shutting its doors for good in mid-January.

Responding to the news of the closure Chairman of Bletchingdon parish council Tony Saunders said that although the hotel was some miles away from the village it would mean less visitors to the area.

He said: “I think it’s a shame.

“But I do think that most people that go there would need to drive, it’s a few miles away and isn’t the main pub for the village.

“Like a lot of country pubs it is closing down and it has been there for a long time.

“Pubs in villages are definitely having problems.”

Fellow parish councillor Duncan Ledger said: “I think it’s a pity but it isn’t really a pub for the village.

“I do think it would mean fewer people coming but I can’t see it having a great impact on the village because it is the best part of two miles from the village.

“However, it might put pressure to redevelop that area for housing in the future.”

No formal planning application has been submitted for the site and owners would neither confirm nor deny speculation about siting a new development on the land.