A former landlord who converted his pub into his family’s home has been ordered by the council to turn it back into a drinking establishment.

Robert Easton-Park ran the Tally Ho pub for 25 years. But two years ago when he gave up the premises licence and turned it into a home for himself and his two children.

Shortly before he converted it, Kent Police had called for a review of the pub’s licence due to concerns with the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety.

Mr Easton-Park surrendered the licence willingly due to the spiralling costs of sports channels and a significant drop in customers.

But now, Canterbury City Council have now told Mr Easton-Park to turn it back into a pub because there was a “loss of a community facility”.

Mr Easton-Park, who claims to have been the longest-serving pub landlord in Canterbury, Kent, said: “My kids were raised there, they went to school nearby.

“I’m not a developer selling it off to try to make money. It’s my home.

“I find it a little bit bizarre that of all the pubs that have closed down in Canterbury in recent years, the ones that have been bought and developed by big companies have barely been affected. At the same time independent pubs like mine are getting stick from the council.”

Canterbury City Council spokesman Rob Davies said: “An application was submitted retrospectively, but was refused on the grounds of the loss of a community facility. Therefore, its current planning use remains as a pub, not as a residential property.

“The owner’s options now are either to appeal this decision to the independent Planning Inspectorate, or submit a new planning application demonstrating that other community uses are not viable at this site. To do this, the applicant would generally be expected to market the property to establish whether there is any interest.”

SWNS