CAMPAIGNERS have stepped up their fight to save a vital pub at risk of being knocked down and turned into flats.

The Derehams Inn in Derehams Lane, Loudwater, High Wycombe, is under threat from development after it closed in 2021.

Hundreds of residents have signed a petition stopping developers from turning what was once a 'popular pub' and community asset into seven flats.

Bucks Free Press:

The petition on Change.org launched earlier this month and has already gained traction, with 789 signatures.

Residents have taken the campaign one step further by tying banners around the village with the message 'Save The Derehams'.  

The meaning behind the message is to save the pub, campaigners wrote on social media.

On Facebook, residents have been asked to write objections to Buckinghamshire Council by March 7, quoting planning reference 23/05133/FUL.

Bucks Free Press:

The post says: "Fight for your local. Save the Derehams Pub. Loudwater needs a pub not more flats. Stop overdevelopment of our village. It needs its heart back!"

Derehams Inn was owned by Margaret ‘Maggie’ Sturgess and her husband Graham. The couple bought the free house in 1998.

Graham, who was at the heart of the community along with his wife died at home on Mother’s Day, March 27, aged 71. He sold the pub before passing away.

Lucy Wade, a commenter on the petition said: "Our community loved the Derehams, it brought so much happiness and we had such good times there. It would be such a shame to lose such a unique place.

"We are longstanding residents of Loudwater and we are of the firm opinion that Derehams Inn should not be demolished and replaced by the proposed building," Robert Walter said.

"It doesn't enhance the area and we need the pub. There is no other facility for village informal gathering within a walking distance."