Beeston pub up for sale again

A pub which bounced back from closure just three years ago is closed yet again and on the market after failing to sell at auction. The Ploughshare at Beeston has had a chequered recent past after almost closing twice in 2005 after its operating company, Provence, went into liquidation.

A pub which bounced back from closure just three years ago is closed yet again and on the market after failing to sell at auction.

The Ploughshare at Beeston has had a chequered recent past after almost closing twice in 2005 after its operating company, Provence, went into liquidation.

It then closed in October 2006, reopened a month, then closed again five days after that, re-opened yet again and then closed in 2007.

However, after a relatively successful two years under its last landlord, it now it is up for sale again by London property agents King's Sturge after failing to meet a reserve price of �275,000 at auction last month.

The pub was reported to have sold for more than �500,000 in 2006 and has been left empty after manager Darren Bond gave up his lease.

Mr Bond, who moved from Pickenham to open the Ploughshare, had been determined to make a success of the pub.

But he said: 'It just wasn't viable, everywhere is struggling but it is just in the wrong position. I don't think there is anything anyone could have done to make it viable.'

He had run the pub as his family home alongside running a taxi, which brought in extra income.

But he was stuck by misfortune last year when he was given a 14-month suspended jail sentence and banned from driving for 30 months for drink driving, cutting his extra income.

Mr Bond, who is now manager at the Litcham Bull, which offers accommodation, said he thinks the only real future for the site is redevelopment as housing.

The pub comes with a cellar and managers flat, a large car park and a beer garden, plus a private garden. The whole site is about half an acre and is being marketed as suiting further development or change of use.