Pigeon fanciers fume over threat to pub and club

The Fiddlers Arms in Lower Gornal is the meeting place of Gornal Wood West End Flying Club.

But plans have been unveiled to demolish the watering hole in Straits Road and replace it with a Co-op supermarket and five homes.

Members of the club, who meet four times a week and have had a base at the pub for the past 12 years, say they are devastated by the news and are calling for the owner NewRiver Retail to re-think its proposals.

The fear the loss of the pub could lead to them being forced to shut their club due to a lack of alternative meeting places.

Club secretary Dennis Vinnicombe, aged 65, who lives nearby, said: "I know all pubs are struggling but this pub is an important part of the community.

"Our club has already had to move out of one pub because it closed and now we are settled here.

"We wouldn't have anywhere else to go locally because nowhere has the facilities anymore.

"Many of our members are elderly and this club is the only way they can continue their hobby.

"If we closed, they would struggle to get to other clubs and they may not even being to get in because they only have room for so many members."

His son Mark, aged 35, who is the club chairman said: "We could fold if the pub closes because we wouldn't have anywhere else to meet. We want the pub to stay open. It's a community pub and there is always a nice atmosphere here."

The club, which has around 18 members, aged up to 86 and from Gornal, Sedgley, Wordsley, Wombourne and even Shropshire, also regularly holds fundraising events generating tens of thousands of pounds for good causes.

The Fiddlers Arms was sold by Marston's to NewRiver Retail in late 2013 and has been rented on a lease since.

Landlord Roy Pickering, who has been running the pub since August, says other groups meet at the pub and it's also a popular venue for private parties.

"Everyone wants to the pub to stay open. We don't need another supermarket. This is a community pub and we have the rooms to cater for different people's needs. It's a lovely pub and I would hate for it to close," he added.

A spokesman for NewRiver said: "A detailed viability report will be provided as part of the planning application and this shows that the pub has had three tenants in the last six years and experienced a 70 per cent loss in trade over a four-year period. "