A PUB landlord who helped save two city locals from closure is battling to stop another being turned into housing.

Paul Crossman, who runs The Swan in Bishopgate Street, and co-owns The Volunteer Arms in Holgate and The Slip Inn in Clementhorpe, has joined the fight to save The Jubilee in Balfour Street, off Leeman Road.

Developers say it has struggled in the face of competition, and they want to turn it into six flats. But in a letter to City of York Council, Mr Crossman attacked the business model operated by the large pub companies (known as pubcos) and the restrictions it placed on tenants.

Pubcos' tenants often have to buy their drinks from the pubco, usually at higher prices than those charged by the brewers.

Mr Crossman said: "This arrangement is very profitable for the pubco, but generally has the effect of starving the tenants themselves of the profit margin required to run the business effectively on a day to day basis, let alone to make investments in maintenance and improvement."

York Press:

FLASHBACK: Regulars from The Jubilee in 1924

He added: "Planners should not underestimate the damage this business model has inflicted on thousands of pubs all across the country, especially when they find themselves presented with planning applications for those same pubs, typically accompanied by claims of "non-viability" by way of justification for change of use.

"Such claims are highly misleading if the pub has not been made available for operation in a fair and open market, away from the restrictions of the tied model.

York Press:

"Our experience with our own pubs is evidence of the fact that a pub's fortunes can almost always be reversed if that pub can be liberated from punishing tied trading terms, given some moderate investment and operated in a fair and open market as a genuine "free-house" tailored to the needs of the local community."

The Volunteer Arms was run down and Punch Taverns sought to turn it into housing, but councillors voted 4-3 against its conversion in 2011, and it is now successful again.

He said the planned York Central development could help The Jubilee and said: "Six flats would be a paltry trade for the loss of a facility which could so well serve the needs of this growing local market."

He said The Jubilee was a valuable local amenity with a function room, and was a handsome pub building, and was well-supported by a regular clientele, and an organised and passionate local campaign had been set up to save the pub. He said its potential was not being realised by the current owners.

The Leeman Road area was home to three pubs for many years: The Jubilee, The Junction, and the Leeman Hotel. The Junction closed in early 2013, but The Leeman has recently been refurbished as The Leeman Rose.

The Jubilee opened in 1897 and was named in celebration of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. In 2012, locals and staff celebrated another diamond jubilee together with a party to mark the current Queen's 60 years on the throne.

Mr Crossman said the problems in the model had been recognised at Government level and by Parliamentary select committees, and said: "The eventual outcome was the drafting of a new statutory "Pubs Code" which is due for publication imminently (it is already overdue, as it should have been published in May) and is intended to eliminate the unfair imbalances which have dogged the trade for many years."