CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save an historic Otley pub have made an eleventh-hour appeal to the building’s owners to accept a bid that would keep the venue open.

The receivers handling the sale of the Cross Pipes pub in Otley are accepting offers for the building up until 4pm on Wednesday, July 12.

After that they will decide who to sell it to - but Otley Pub Club has written to them urging them to accept a cash offer for the full asking price which has been made by a potential new owner who intends to refurbish the pub and install five letting rooms.

The Cross Pipes dates back to 1762 and has been put on the market by Leonard Curtis Ltd with an asking price of £240,000.

The pub is closed after the previous owner’s plans to refurbish the venue and create rooms for overnight stays was hit by the effects of the Covid lockdowns and the cost of living crisis, resulting in its current position.

Although the building has Asset of Community Value status, which gives it certain protections, these are not in effect due to the pub being in the hands of the receivers.

Otley Pub Club chairman Rob Skinner said in a letter to Leonard Curtis this week that it was “deeply troubling” that the company had not accepted this offer straight away.

Mr Skinner wrote: “We were utterly dismayed to hear that instead of accepting this offer, your nominated estate agents have stated, ‘our client has decided that they will be inviting best and final bids by 12th July’, giving the impression that it will go to highest bidder, regardless of their intentions for the pub.

“This is deeply troubling, when there is a bid for the Cross Pipes as a pub. Other interested parties may choose to close, convert and redevelop it, meaning it would forever be lost to the town and community, even when there is an offer on the table as a pub, at the price you are seeking.”

Otley Pub Club has shared the letters to the owners with Otley’s Councillors and MP as well as the local CAMRA branches and The Campaign for Pubs urging them all to push the owners to accept the bid.

The Campaign for Pubs is pushing for a ‘Give Pubs Protection’ policy to oblige owners to sell historic pubs as pubs, at the independently valued price, to stop the deliberate asset stripping of pubs by unscrupulous owners and developers, said Mr Skinner.

Mr Skinner told the Wharfedale Observer: “We are delighted that there is a purchaser of the historic Cross Pipes as a pub, but we are utterly dismayed to hear that the current owners might ignore it, despite it being at the asking price and that they may instead seek a higher offer from a developer. We call on Leonard Curtis to do the right thing and accept the bid for the Cross Pipes as a pub.

“The Cross Pipes is one of Otley’s oldest pubs and it is really exciting that the prospective new owners intend to refurbish the pub and also are looking to operate bed and breakfast accommodation. It would be a disgrace for the Cross Pipes to be shut for good when there is a cash offer at the full asking price.

“The pub has Asset of Community Value status and although legally the current owners can ignore the process, morally they should accept the pub bid to ensure a positive outcome for all concerned”.

Otley Pub Club have also made clear to the owner and future owners that they would vigorously oppose any applications to change the use of the pub if the owners did do the wrong thing and seek to cash in the pub for development.

They say that the National Planning Policy Framework policies states the importance of “the retention and development of accessible local services and community facilities” including public houses and makes clear that councils must… “guard against the unnecessary loss of valued facilities and services”.

With the current situation, where there is a cash buyer offering the asking price of the Cross Pipes as a pub, any conversion would without doubt represent “the unnecessary loss of this public house and community amenity”, said Otley Pub Club.