A STACKSTEADS pub could be demolished after its administrators submitted plans to turn it into housing.

The joint administrators of Calco Pubs Limited, Zolfo Cooper, want to build four three-bedroom homes in place of the Hare and Hounds, in Newchurch Road.

Addressing the failure of the pub to ‘operate a profitable business’, a planning statement to Rossendale Council said: “There are in fact four alternative pubs on the main road within easy walking distance which is specified...as a 15 minute travelling time by non-car modes.”

It added: “These pubs capture much of the trade in the area.

“The loss which would be experienced by the local community by the closure of the Hare and Hounds would therefore be negligible given the abundance of alternative similar or better facilities.”