A pub in South Oxhey will be demolished to make way for 33 flats.

Three Rivers district councillors approved plans for the demolition of The Grapevine pub, in Prestwick Road, at a planning meeting last night.

A three-storey block will be built, containing 20 two-bedroom and nine one-bedroom flats, and a two-storey block will hold four two-bedroom apartments.

The plans, submitted by Watford Community Housing Trust, include 15 affordable homes - 10 apartments will be socially rented and five will be shared ownership.

The decision will upset members of Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) who objected the plans.

READ MORE: Pub could be knocked down and replaced with two blocks of flats

In the planning portal online, a member said: "One of CAMRA's key campaigns is protecting pubs from closure.

"CAMRA believes well-run pubs are important community assets that are increasingly vulnerable to development. 

"The Ox public house is under threat from the South Oxhey Initiative. If the Grapevine and the Ox are both lost to development that would leave the Dick Whittington as the only pub on the estate, so three out of four pubs in South Oxhey will have closed in the space of 10 years.

"This is a drastic loss of leisure facilities and contravenes the council's policy aim to protect community, leisure and cultural facilities."

Some residents were also concerned about the impact the development would have on traffic and parking, and one said the flats would not fit in with the area.