Pub battle may be lost

Pubgoers are set to finally lose their long battle to save Kidderminster's Eagles Nest pub.

Planners are likely to give the green light to the demolition of the pub in Coningsby Drive at a meeting next week. It will become the latest local in the region to be lost and replaced with houses.

Wyre Forest District Council is close to resolving a dispute with developer Christopher Compton Goddard which will see the scheme given the go-ahead.

Planners will meet on Thursday when a decision is set to be made.

They originally approved the development in April, but the deal was stalled when the developers refused to pay towards community projects in the area as a condition of the planning permission.

The money included £28,294 towards the provision of education in the area, £7,192 towards public open space and a further £10,000 for local improvements such as a bus shelter.

Now a deal has been struck and the company is likely to be asked to contribute a smaller sum of £16,164.

The decision will bring to an end the fight to save the pub. More than 200 people in the town signed a petition. Licensee and mother-of-three Rachel Watson, aged 28, a tenant at the pub, claimed she found out the application had been submitted only three months after she took over.