A RURAL parish council still hopes a pub will re-open in a small village.

The Berkeley Vale Hotel in Stone was closed 18 months ago and the new owners want to build houses on the site.

At Monday's meeting of Ham and Stone Parish Council chairman Cllr Penny Wride said: "I had a telephone call from Stride Treglown, who are acting on behalf of the owners of the Berkeley Vale site.

"They wanted to find a way round keeping the Berkeley Vale facility without it being on the hotel site. One of their ideas was to build a skittle alley."

"One of their ideas was to build the facility next to the village hall. "We have told them that they can't build on the village hall site. We do not have the facility for a licensed bar and we can't afford the stock.

"Stroud District Council have told them they will not view the loss of a major village amenity lightly so they have to come up with a scheme to keep a village pub in the area.

She added: "That is as far as it has got. Anything else you hear is pure speculation. Until anything official is put into the planners and to us we can't say anymore because we don't know what is happening. They know we want a licensed pub back in the village."

Cllr Gareth Langdon said: "They went away knowing that the village hall site was not suitable and they have to go away and resolve the problems in front of them."