A village pub may be lost to housing.

Landlady Tina Beadle has submitted a planning application to Tonbridge and Maling Council seeking permission to convert the Scared Crow in Offham Road, West Malling, into two family homes.

Ms Beadle has been trying to sell the pub through Christie and Co for over a year, but without success.

Her application includes a consultant’s viability study of the pub’s takings which show it is no longer a going concern.

Business was badly affected by Covid and also by parking restrictions put in by the council which devastated the pub’s lunchtime trade as there is no off-road parking.

Figures showed the pub to have made only £22,233 profit in the year to March 2022.

And that was with the help of a £25,606 Covid support grant from the Government, meaning in reality it was making a trading loss.

Ms Beadle previously told Kentonline: “I feel like I’m bashing my head against a brick wall. It's nigh on impossible for a small independent pub like mine to survive."

She explained: "Before the pandemic everything was running great, and then we we were shut for so long.

"We were practically shut down for a year-and-a-half – when we opened again we thought that was the worst it would be.

"After Covid, things picked up slowly, then all of a sudden we hit the problem with Ukraine, the cost of living and energy prices. Food, oil – everything's gone up.”

The pub was previously declared an "Asset of Community Value" which meant when it came to be sold the community were given the first chance to buy it.

The sad thing is I don't think there's a future for small pubs like mine anymore

Speaking in March, Ms Beadle said: "We told Tonbridge and Malling council we were going to sell it and the community didn't come forward to buy it.

"The sad thing is I don't think there's a future for small pubs like mine anymore. It's really sad but I don't think there is.”

Now plans have been submitted to turn the brick-walled boozer into housing.

Details of the application can be found on the council’s website here by searching for the application reference 23/01006.

Designs show the pub on the corner with Church Fields converted to two homes, each three bedrooms, although a small extension will be necessary at the rear. They will share the pub’s garden.

The deadline for determination is July 10.