Flats could be built on the site of a former village pub.

The former Waggon & Horses pub in Copthall Lane, Chalfont St Peter, was served with a notice for demolition on Valentine’s Day in 2019, with villagers pleading to save the historic watering hole.

In a desperate bid to save the building, which is believed to date back to at least the 1820s, Chalfont St Peter Parish Council asked Historic England to consider listing it – but their request was turned down.

Now, Ekrem Mahmutaj, from Luton, has submitted an application to build six flats on the site.

The design and access statement says the flats – three two-beds and three one-beds – will be over three floors and the block will have a total of seven parking spaces.

It adds: “Advice from local estate agents is that large, high specification one and two-bedroom flats are short in supply.”

Three of the first and second floor flats will have balconies, and the proposed block will also have a refuse store adjacent to the car parking spaces.

The design and access statement also says the number of car movements from the proposed flats will be fewer than when the pub was still standing, and there will also be less noise, “nuisance”, litter, late night opening and general “public disturbance”.

These will be replaced by “a more docile residential use with regular car movements at more sociable times of the day”, the statement adds.

Speaking about the loss of a community asset in the form of the pub, it says: “The location and demographic had proven to be unprofitable for Greene King, leading to the closure of the pub.

“There are several pubs within easy walking distance such as The Greyhound Inn on the northern side of town.

“The excellent bus links from the site provide easy access (within five to six minutes) to several local pubs and restaurants.”

From 1893 to 1949, the Waggon and Horses' landlord was Ebenezer Windsor, who is believed to be the country's longest continually serving landlord in the same premises.

His children were born in the pub, including his son, Thomas Windsor, who tragically lost his life at the Battle of the Somme during the First World War, and is commemorated as one of the fallen on the Chalfont St Peter War Memorial.

Despite the history of the pub, which was originally a cottage, Historic England – which protects some of the most important historic landmarks in the country – says it did not meet the strict criteria for listing.

It was listed in the Chalfont St Peter parish council neighbourhood plan as a heritage asset.

Buckinghamshire Council is expected to make a decision on the plans by June 25.

To see them in full, visit www.chiltern.gov.uk/viewplanningapplications with reference PL/21/1024/FA.