The Red Hart has been shut as a pub for two years

The Red Hart in Llanvapley, Monmouthshire, closed in 2002 and the owner applied to change it to a home.

Drinkers at the pub fought the change and the council refused planning permission, but Mr Sharp appealed.

Sixty pubs have closed in Wales since 2000 but inspectors ruled the Red Hart was an "important community facility", and upheld the refusal.

The Red Hart's owner James Sharp had argued that it was no longer viable as a pub.

Closures

Although the village near Abergavenny only numbers around 130 inhabitants, a group formed the Red Hart Supporters' Club to campaign against the move.

A public inquiry was held in Cwmbran in September and this week the planning inspectorate dismissed Mr Sharp's appeal against the council's decision.

Even if we never get to see the inside in our lifetimes, one day it will come back on the marketplace as a pub Geoff Burrows

Speaking after the decision, Mr Sharp told BBC Wales he would be "examining the decision carefully" and would take advice on where to go next.

Two other pubs have already closed in the area, the Halfway Pub at Talacoid and the King's Arms at Llanvetherine.

Geoff Burrows, one of the leading members of the supporters' club, told BBC Wales' news website the supporters were "overjoyed".

"This issue has been hanging over us for an awful long time. The pub's been closed now for two years.

"In this part of Monmouthshire, there has been a list of pubs going away."

"Our objective was to fight this and prevent a change of use," he said.

"Even if we never get to see the inside in our lifetimes, one day it will come back on the marketplace as a pub."

Mr Burrows said he was holding a big party at his home on Thursday evening to celebrate the decision.

The supporters' group was formed shortly after the pub shut in October 2002, with members joining through a website established by a group.

It claims to have attracted over 600 backers.

They hired a barrister to represent their case at the planning appeal, alongside the council's own legal representative.

The group now plans to keep their website up and running, cataloguing the steps they have gone through in the past two years to provide guidance to anyone else in a similar situation.

'Struggled'

Gareth John, executive officer with the Licensed Victuallers' Association of Wales, said: "Rural pubs have struggled and are struggling.

"Unless you are near a centre of population and have the capacity to do food, the pub struggles.

"Some are doing extremely well but they are concentrating on food.

"The Red Hart can't survive on just the locals. You have got to attract people from outside, which is the crunch."

The number of pubs in Wales had fallen by 61 to 3,775 since 2000, with half having an annual turnover of less than �135,000.