TARN House is far from the first and will not be the last public house in these parts to close its doors.

Within the last two years The Bridge at Ingleton, the Horse Close in Skipton, The Bowerley at Bentham, the Goat Gap at Clapham all received planning permission for conversion to housing, often to the accompaniment of local opposition.

It is always sad when a pub shuts its doors. They are an important thread in our social fabric. So much so that the Prince of Wales famously launched a nationwide campaign in one of Craven's own hostelries, the Craven Heifer at Stainforth, in which he declared "the pub is the hub" (of the community).

A centre for social intercourse, conversation and conviviality, many of Britain's pubs form a useful community function and it is understandable that their closure should plunge the locals into mourning.

Rightly, therefore our planning committee has taken a decision to preserve such an amenity, particularly as there is a dispute about just how rigorous the attempts to market the pub have been. It has not been advertised in this newspaper, which outsells all others in the locality by at least tenfold.

However, in the long run, it is odds on that the developers will, as usual, get their way and Tarn House will follow the well-established path. A precedent has been set and it is hard to make a case out for why Tarn House should be different.

What is certain is that the pub doors are now closed. With no signs of the Devonshire pub in Skipton re-opening, another landmark building looks set for a slow decline.