THE last orders bell will ring for the final time tonight at a cherished community pub despite attempts by locals to save it.
JD Wetherspoon has chosen not to renew the lease at the popular Nightjar in Ferndown, Dorset.
Staff will lock up for the final time tonight despite a petition by locals gaining over 1000 signatures.
Local woman Linda Polley who helped organise the petition said the community did not want to lose the pub.
Speaking to the Dorset Echo she said: “We go there quite a lot and people are really friendly there. You gel with people, everybody says hello to each other.
“We have a couple of meals there a week and we love the atmosphere.
“Since starting the petition, we have been speaking with a lot of people and they are all devastated about it.”
Wetherspoon spokesperson, Eddie Gershon, said it was a “commercial decision.”
He said: “We can confirm that the final day of trading is Sunday, September 24.
“The company has decided not to renew the lease on The Nightjar.
“This is a commercial decision by Wetherspoon.
“All staff have been offered jobs at Wetherspoon pubs in the region.
“We appreciate that customers will be disappointed with the decision and are fully aware of the petition to save the pub.”
Price inflation and the austerity crisis has put the pub chain under pressure over recent years.
Many customers have chosen to drink at supermarket beer at home rather than pay for pints in a Wetherspoon pub.
Wetherspoon currently has 27 pubs up for sale – 17 are still available while ten are under offer.
This means that a buyer has presented an offer that is being considered by the seller.
The chain has already closed 33 of its pubs since they went up for sale. More than half a dozen closed in 2022, including the Running Horse in Airside Doncaster Airport, The Willow Grove in Southport, and the Wild Rose in Bootle.
Further Wetherspoons branches – The Cliftonville in Hove and The Willow Grove, Southport – closed on March 5, 2023.
The Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Glasgow, served its final pint on March 26, 2023. In recent weeks, The Sir John Aderne in Newark closed for food.
