The owners of a village pub are planning on shutting their business due to the financial impact of the coronavirus lockdown.

Jeff Hall and Rhonda Oakley, who own the Rose and Crown pub in Chorleywood, have filed a planning application to replace the village pub with new flats to Three Rivers District Council.

If the plans are approved by the council, the 25-year-old pub in Old Common Road will close for good.

Mr Hall and Ms Oakley, who both plan on retiring soon, put the pub on the market a year ago – but believe it “would not be able to sell at a decent price” due to the lockdown.

Instead, the two pub owners now hope that changing it to flats and renting them out will be a better way of generating income as they head into retirement.

Mr Hall, 63, said: “Unfortunately what has happened with the coronavirus lockdown means no one is going to be looking to buy the pub and we imagine that the lockdown would have halved its price.

“We need money to retire on, and as much as I love the pub sadly it now has to go. I think if someone did want to buy the pub it would not be for a very long time in the future, but I don’t think anyone would buy it any time soon.

“If the pub did sell now it would be for a minimal amount. If the planning permission for our application is granted, then we will either rent or sell the flats.”

Were the planning application to be successful, two new studio flats will be built on the ground floor where the pub is currently based.

Mr Hall said he expects that “there would be people upset” if the plans were given the go ahead, following “25 years of great memories” at the pub.

Mr Hall added: “We have had some great times at the pub since it was started in 1995 and we still have been keeping in touch with customers despite the lockdown.

“But we need to be thinking about the future. We are a little pub and with a smaller venue it becomes harder to attract clientele.

“Following the weeks off we have had I would like to leave the pub before I don’t enjoy it anymore and we submitted the planning application.”

To view the full planning application click here