The pub is the hub of the community, say campaigners

Regulars at the Powis Arms in the hamlet of Pool Quay oppose plans to convert most of the property and leave a small ground floor bar.

A popular watering hole for walkers on the nearby Offa's Dyke path, it closed last August after the landlord's death.

Owner Powis Estate has sent plans to the council, but the pub near Welshpool is also on the market for �190,000.

The Powis Arms, in the hamlet of Pool Quay, two miles from Welshpool, stands just by the Montgomery Canal and the Offa's Dyke and Severn Way paths.

The pub had attracted thirsty canal boat tourists and walkers, but trade had dipped before licensee Allan Whalley died suddenly last August.

'Great loss'

Plans originally submitted with the council were to convert the whole of the property into homes, but a spokesman for Powis Estate said the application was to be amended.

The owner is now looking to convert one side of the pub into a home, while the bottom half of the other side would be kept as a pub and the top half made into a flat.

However, regulars want to see the pub in the hands of a new landlord, and said it was one of the hamlet's only amenities.

Campaigner Debbie Brown said: "The only other amenity is the church - we have nothing else in Pool Quay.

"We have started a petition to save the pub and we have written to our MP Lembit Opik about the issue.

"The pub was really, really popular with walkers and would be a great loss to the community."

Phillip Humphreys, agent for Powis Estate, confirmed that the plans for the pub would be amended.