A LICENSEE whose thriving pub is to be closed early next year has spoken of his regret at the demise of the local.

David Mitchell, 42, has run the Somerset Arms in Wakefield Road, Aspley, for seven years.

While most pubs shut due to a lack of trade – the impact of cheap supermarket alcohol or the smoking ban – the Somerset is a successful business.

It will close in February because the building’s new owner wants to turn it into a food takeaway and flats.

Planning permission has already been granted.

Mr Mitchell, who runs the premises with wife Sarah, 41, said the Somerset was the latest pub to go in what used to be a popular stretch from Wakefield Road from Aspley to Moldgreen.

In the past there were seven pubs in a half-mile stretch: The New Wharf, the Flyboat, the Somerset Arms, the Green Cross, the Jolly Sailor, the Brooks Arms and the Ivy Green.

Apart from the Somerset, only the Brooks Arms and the Ivy Green remain open.

Mr Mitchell said too many pubs had been lost already and added: “It’s a shame the Somerset is having to go.

“We have no complaints with the landlord who bought the building and made no secret of the fact he wanted to do something else with it.

“We have known what was going to happen for 12 months but what I am concerned about is the impact on the community.

“Once a pub has gone, it’s gone.”

Mr Mitchell, who has two children Natasha, 20, and nine-year-old Thomas, told how he took on the pub in December 2005.

“It was hard work at first because when you take on a pub you have to make it your own but at the same time not upset people,” he said.

“We got rid of the undesirable element and restored its reputation but that took a year or 18 months.

“The company then made some structural alterations inside, and created smoking facilities well ahead of the smoking ban coming in, which was quite forward-thinking, and we never looked back.”

Mr Mitchell said while he thought Wakefield Road was already “awash with takeaways”, it was the loss of another pub which would be keenly felt.

“Out of the seven pubs we had between here and Moldgreen only the Brooks Arms and the Ivy Green are still open, and the Brooks is advertising for a new tenant which may or may not be found,” he said.

“A pub closure tears a hole in the fabric of the local community.

“Until you run a pub you think that what you see on EastEnders or Coronation Street, where people’s lives revolve around the pub, isn’t what real life is about.

“But people do spend a lot of time in local pubs.

“For some people it is their only social contact. They come here for the company and the landlord and landlady feel a responsibility for them.

“Some people unburden themselves, we have called ambulances for people and we have seen all sides of life. A local pub isn’t just a watering hole.”

So when a pub closes where do all the regular drinkers go?

“That’s a good question,” said Mr Mitchell.

“I’ve been asking our regulars what they will do and most say they just won’t go out.

“That’s a real shame. A pub is a social hub. You can call in for a couple of teatime pints on your way home from work and have some banter.

“While people might have a drink or two at home, they won’t be chewing the fat with others at the bar.”

Pub closures also hit good causes – the Somerset has raised £2,000 for Help for Heroes in recent years – and sports teams also have to find new homes.

The Somerset has two teams in the Huddersfield Pool League.

Mr Mitchell and his family will also be jobless and homeless when the pub shuts on February 9.

But they had been planning to come out for some time and Mr Mitchell will launch his own business, Mitchell Cellar Services, to offer beer line cleaning, cellar maintenance and licensee training.

“There is still a good future for well-run pubs and I want to use the skills I have learned to help others be successful,” he said.

Regular Granville Thompson, 57, of Almondbury, said he felt sorry for the older drinkers.

“There’s about half-a-dozen guys who come in here for a chat and a warm up and to meet their friends.

“What are they going to do now, sit and stare at four walls at home? It’s a real shame the pub is closing when it doesn’t need to.”