A LANDLORD says he has been forced to close his pub because customers could not find where it was.

Martin Thomas took over The Five Mile House in Duntisbourne Abbots in November last year.

He applied to have a brown tourist sign put on the A417 directing passers-by to the pub but was told pubs generally did not qualify.

"I invested a lot of money in the pub, building it up," he said. "Now it'll probably be converted into a house. Lots of people had a lot of affection for that pub.

"I've had people make bookings but then ring up saying they can't find where the pub is."

The Five Mile House is described by CAMRA as one of Britain's real heritage pubs.

But a spokesman for the Highways Agency said they had rejected Mr Thomas' request for a tourist sign because public houses did not generally qualify for the brown tourist signs which are intended for tourist destinations attracting between 40,000 and 250,000 visitors each year.

The spokesman said occasionally signs may be allowed under exceptional circumstances.

Mr Thomas' request was turned down on July 23 and he has since moved to London, He said he had little hope for the future of the pub.

"I don't think we can reopen," he said. "I've waited so long for this now that I've just given up. There was no way I could continue ploughing money into the pub.

"Quite a lot of the locals are very upset.

"The Highwayman (a pub on the A417) was allowed a brown tourist sign and it's not even a a heritage site like the Five Mile is. Why was that allowed when mine was not?"

The Five Mile Pub was closed on Wednesday, July 24.