REGULARS of a pub threatened with closure have secured the chance to have their say on why it should remain open.

The Punch Bowl, in Lowther Street, York, has been granted an Article 4 Direction (A4D) by City of York Council to stop it being sold to the highest bidder or turned into a mini-supermarket.

And other pubs could soon be afforded the same protection if plans for a city-wide A4D prove successful in the coming weeks.

Drinkers first started a petition to save The Punch Bowl last year when it came under threat from Tesco.

A loophole means pubs can be sold off without companies first applying for planning permission, but an A4D ensures they must submit an application.

The Lowther Street pub will also soon find out if its application to be listed as an Asset of Community Value has been successful, which will hand it another form of protection from closure.

Nick Love, of York CAMRA, said: “It’s great that we have the Article 4 directive on the Punch Bowl now, and we have applied for it to be listed as an Asset of Community Value as that will give it another form of protection.”

He said the Punch Bowl had been given an “immediate” A4D and after a six-month period with no objections from the pub company or Tesco, the order had been made permanent meaning the pub cannot change its use to a shop without planning permission being granted.

The Press' Be Vocal For Your Local campaign was set up in November to give customers a say on under-threat pubs, and urged the council to give pubs more protection.

Paul Giller, a regular at The Punch Bowl, helped to set up the petition to stop Tesco's takeover when he became concerned he may lose the pub.

Mr Giller, who is blind, said: "We are all delighted this has happened. We are over the moon.

"Tesco has backed out and it's very good news.

"I don't have to worry about going somewhere else with disabled access now and can go there any time."

Cllr Ian Gillies approved The Punch Bowl's A4D but has called for a report which will examine how a city-wide direction will work.

"We need to judge if there is a need for an A4D city-wide or not and set out the pros and cons," he said.

"Once we have that we can decide if a city-wide directive is the way forward.

"What we don't want is to have a huge load of these applications coming up on an individual basis."