WATCH: Save our pub! Campaigners protest Abbey Hotel closure
Campaigners held a protest outside an under-threat pub in an effort to save it from being closed down for good.
They showed their support for the landmark Abbey Hotel in Bearwood by parading placards outside the building.
One of the protesters, mother-of-one Julie Birley, said the watering hole 'was a very special pub'.
She called for owners Stonegate to keep the pub operating and said the community were desperate for it to be saved.
Teaching assistant Mrs Birley, 46, said: "It's a traditional pub that serves all different aspects of the community. There are so few of those about now.
"Our main grievance is that it doesn't seem like Stonegate care about the customers. We genuinely feel that it does good things for the community.
"We're not just upset that the pub could be closed down but it's also the fact that it's a Grade II-listed building.
"It was built to be a pub and it shouldn't be changed from that. At the end of the day you've got to stand to stand up for these things – if you don't do anything about it then you're not in a position to moan.
"All the people that were out there at the protest are passionate about the pub."
The Abbey is due to shut at the end of this month – but regulars are not giving up on their favourite pub without a fight.
More than 600 people have already signed a petition to save the establishment, with people who use it desperate not to see it close.
Details of who is taking over the pub in Abbey Road and what the future holds for the building have yet to be disclosed by owners Stonegate. Management at the Abbey announced the pub's sudden closure on its Facebook page and said it was 'a very sad time'.
The pub's owner Stonegate has confirmed a bid for the pub from an unnamed party had been accepted.
Staff are expected to be offered positions at other Stonegate pubs in the area.
