THE future of a 300-year-old pub remains uncertain after a plan by one of Yorkshire’s richest men to convert it into an office was thrown out.

More than five years after technology tycoon Peter Wilkinson closed The Plough after years of substantial losses, planners rejected his application to use it to run the 7,690-hectare Pennyholme Estate, where he employs 53 people.

Agents for Mr Wilkinson - whose fortune reportedly rose to £385m this year - told the North York Moors National Park authority that the pub, in the hamlet of Fadmoor, would never be put up for sale.

They said: "The applicant has expressed that this be made absolutely clear that the premises are not and will not be available for purchase by others."

The agents said the historic pub's small size and limited car parking hampered its viability, while there was a pub in the neighbouring village of Gillamoor, just 575 metres from Fadmoor.

"The experience and ability of the owner to run a successful hospitality enterprise is not in question.

"It is the view that in an isolated rural location, where there is no major visitor attraction nearby, it is unreasonable to expect a community (Fadmoor and Gillamoor) of 340 people to be able to economically sustain two profitable public houses."

Scores of villagers, who have been campaigning since 2011 to get the pub reopened, said they felt it could be a lucrative business and raised concerns for community facilities in the village, following the closure of its chapel, shop and post office in recent years.

Objecting to the plan, residents said small businesses, such as cottage accommodation, a caravan park and a honey farm, had been badly hit since The Plough's closure due to lack of passing tourist trade.

One wrote: "Do not let this change of use go ahead as the village will die, being robbed of its social

centre which also brings in walkers, classic car enthusiasts, visitors from far and wide to

dine and purchase items from enterprising soles..."

The park's planning committee rejected the plan by eight votes to four, after recognising villagers had registered the pub as a community asset in 2013.

Resident Gerry McMahon, who had objected to the plan, said: "Most people here are pleased with the decision because if the application had been approved our pub would not have reopened in the foreseeable future, but I would really like to talk to the owners as I think there is a good solution both for their purposes and Fadmoor."