Stafford pub The Westway facing closure

A pub in Stafford faces closure, with the loss of up to 10 jobs, after being put up for sale by its owners.

The Westway pub on Highfields estate has been placed on the market by Punch Taverns and the company has already found a potential buyer.

The company is hoping to complete the sale in May or June this year and is aiming to relocate staff at The Westway to other posts but could not rule out redundancies.

Rumours on a community website have suggested the building could become an elderly care home.

Punch Taverns say that the company is moving towards operating more food-focused pubs and the Westway did not fit in with this concept.

Spokeswoman Alice Bowden could not confirm whether the building would remain in use as a pub after it was sold.

She said: "A decision was made to put The Westway on the market and we have now exchanged contracts with a purchaser.

"The pub remains open for the short term and we are already working closely with our licensee and their team at The Westway to look for alternative opportunities for them within our estate."

She added: "We are still in negotiations and the sale has not gone through as far as we know but it will hopefully May or June when we will see the completion of the sale."

The Westway is the latest of several pubs in Stafford to fall on hard times in recent years.

In March last year the Chicago Rock Cafe, in Bridge Street, closed its doors with the loss of 26 jobs.

The Lynton Tavern in Weeping Cross closed at the end of 2009 after being sold by Punch Taverns to the Exclusive Brethren for conversion to a religious facility.

The Telegraph Inn in Wolverhampton Road closed around the same and is being converted for office use.

But some pubs were also re-opened in the town last year including The Sun Inn, in Lichfield Road, which was brought back to life in July as part of a £140,000 transformation creating 20 jobs. Chambers, which was formerly the Hogshead, also opened in Victoria Square in October creating 25 new jobs.

Staffordshire Campaign for Real Ale member Mike Harker said: "It is going to mean another community does not have its own local pub. We want all pubs to try to stay open. They used to be the centre of the community but nationally there is an erosion of what used to be the British way of life."