An 18th century building which was a pub for around 100 years is likely to end up as two private homes.

The Weymouth Arms in Warminster was forced to close as a pub last year and 15 months of marketing have failed to find anyone able to take it over.

Now owner Shane Goodway, who bought the premises in Emwell Street 13 years ago, has applied to convert it into two homes.

Mr Goodway and his wife have invested £900,000 in the business, according to documents submitted as part of the planning application to Wiltshire Council.

At one point, they employed 15 people and could cater for 60 diners.

But, the application says, the business never quite recovered from the impact of its forced closure during the covid pandemic.

Financial and property industry analysis submitted to planners at the council reveals that 53 people expressed interest in the pub, which had been put up for sale with a £650,000 price tag. But only two of these made formal offers, and neither could actually proceed with a deal because of lack of bank funding.

The documents say the situation is not helped by the pub’s location “in a quiet street towards the edge of town, far from the main commercial centre.”

The Goodways are currently operating a bed and breakfast guest house in the building, but a letter from their accountants says it is barely breaking even and describes its prospects as ‘bleak’.

The building was put up in the early to mid-1800s as a large private home, and became a pub in around 1920.

The application proposes two, four-bedroom homes, which it says reflects the way the building had been divided in the distant past.

“The whole approach to this project is, as far as possible and practicable, to form the two houses with as little intervention as possible with the building fabric, and to reverse some past injurious and unsightly works.

"All this is in order that the building con be used, enjoyed, and preserved into the far future. lt is contended that residential use is much less likely to change, would be cherished, and ultimately more appropriate than that of a pub within a listed building.”