THE best way to save a pub is to drink or eat there.

This was the advice of Tendring Council leader Neil Stock as councillors debated whether the authority should award a special status to a pub in Little Clacton.

Little Clacton Parish Council had asked the district council to declare the Blacksmith Arms an “asset of community value”.

It feared the pub in The Street might be sold, even though it accepted the current tenants still had “a number of years on their lease”.

About 1,000 pubs nationally have received such protection since the legislation was introduced.

It gives local communities six months to raise funds to buy a pub and help prevent its closure.

Mr Stock said: “I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t want to save pubs. The best way of saving pubs is to use them. I like to think I do my bit.”

Council revenue portfolio holder Giles Watling added: “Every time a pub dies, we tend to rip the heart out of the community.

“People do not meet any more.

They sit at home in front of their large TVs drinking cheap supermarket alcohol and food,” he said.

Coastal protection portfolio holder Nick Turner said Tendring Council had saved pubs through the planning process.

“Large companies go on an asset strip. They don’t care about the community,”

he added.

However, Tendring Council’s cabinet on Friday said the parish council had not conclusively proved there was a need for such status and its application did not meet the legal criteria. Deputy council leader Carlo Gugliemi said if a business was not viable, the owner should have the right to sell to whom they wanted.

Revenue and benefits portfolio holder John Hughes added such moves could put the council “in an invidious position” as affected property owners could claim up to £20,000 compensation from councils if such status affected them financially.

The Blacksmith Arms is owned by Greene King and a spokesman said: “The pub is open for business as usual and trading well.

“We can assure the local community there are no plans to sell or close it at this time.”