Last ditch efforts are being made to keep a village pub open amid a dispute between councillors and the landlords.

Jo Rowe and her husband Lee and their family have announced their intention to leave the Royal Oak without a landlord for Christmas as they accuse parish councillors of ‘interfering’ directly in the running of the business.

Jo says it is not economically viable to keep the historic fifteenth century inn on the green open under council rules requiring seven-day opening.

The pub is due to close on December 15 after three years with the Rowes in charge. The pub is owned by Burrator Parish Council and leased to landlords.

The main issue is a disagreement between the Rowes and the council over giving the landlords the freedom to shut two days a week.

Jo says councillors are imposing restrictions on mandatory minimum opening hours. The council says the pub licence requires the pub to open every day. But the landlord says it is unprofitable to open on the required Mondays and Tuesdays, when very few customers want to eat or drink in the restaurant and public bar areas.

Councillors say they are doing everything in their power to make life easier to run the pub after requests from Jo, including a rent freeze, permission to close Mondays and Tuesdays in the winter and a two-week holiday.

However, the sticking point remains the flexibility to close on Mondays and Tuesdays the rest of the year.

Jo said: “The council is interfering too much in the day-to-day running of the pub and it’s hampering us being profitable. We’re trying to run a business with one hand tied behind our back.

“The councillors don’t know how to run a business which is shown in the way they try to effectively micro-manage our business. They’re forcing us to open every day during the summer, but trade hasn’t picked up since the winter. We just want to close when trade is too low.

“Me and Lee work at least 80 hours a week each with minimum staff and no outside life. It’s still a popular pub, but costs have risen so much that we can’t afford to open on our quieter days.”

At a special meeting on Monday (September 21) to discuss the closure Burrator Parish Council chairman Fred Glanville suggested offering the landlord a rent-free period to stay throughout Christmas. The pub committee discussed the future of the pub in a closed session.

During the fractious public session villagers said the council should ‘compromise’ to keep the pub open. Cllr Glanville said: “There’s nothing I’d like more than to keep Jo as landlady. The council agreed to all Jo’s requests and we’ve said any ‘reasonable requests will not be refused’”.

The council was ‘saddened’ by Jo’s decision and had strongly supported her, agreeing to temporary adjustments to the lease when requested and remaining open to lease changes (including opening hours).

Cllr Glanville said tenant did not ‘openly discuss’ the issue with the council before making her decision. He said it was the council’s responsibility to administer Royal Oak to maintain its character and value as a local amenity for the community.

Pub regular Adam Gelder said: “It’s a great pub with a ‘direct’ landlord. But the parish council should allow landlords freedom.”

Burrator Parish Council is holding a full council meeting in Walkhampton Village Hall (where an update on the future of the pub will be discussed) on Thursday, September 24, at 7.30pm. The public are invited to attend.