COUNCILLORS could force the sale of a historic pub to save it from ruin after the owner allowed it to fall into disrepair.

A vote to commence the compulsory purchase of a Great Rollright pub will take place at a West Oxfordshire District Council meeting today.

The Unicorn pub has been vacant since 1989, during which time the owner has repeatedly sought permission to convert it into residences.

The Grade II listed building is structurally unsound and the renovation costs are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.

West Oxfordshire District Council may serve a compulsory purchase order in a bid to preserve the 18th century building.

Phil Shaw, West Oxfordshire District Council Development Manager, said: “There’s a public footpath that runs through the site and the worry is that the site is accessible to children and a child could be injured or killed.

“The building is missing a number of its floors and over time the weather has rotted the roof timbers.

“There’s hundreds of thousands of pounds of work to repair the structure of the building.”

A report on the proposed compulsory purchase order said falling tiles and masonry as well as the potential collapse of the pub were a danger to the public.

The council could implement a purchase order and buy the building for a third party on the basis that they fund the building work.

Alternatively the council could purchase the property, pay for the repairs and then sell, lease or retain it.

The council served the owner of the Unicorn with a demand for payment after it spent £35,854 on “urgent work” six months ago.

The report said the owner has failed to pay back this money and councillors could vote to take legal action to recover the debt.

The owner has rejected numerous offers by local businessmen to purchase the pub, according to Mr Shaw.

Sue Glasson, Rollright Parish Council clerk, said: “The building is an eyesore to our high street and it’s gone on for too many years.

“I think the village would like to see a flourishing pub. It was once a very successful pub and I’d like to see it restored to its former glory.

“As the clerk I have been writing to the district council for years and I feel that at last there’s some progress.”

Ms Glasson said the Parish Council support the compulsory purchase of the pub.

The Unicorn is a three storey limestone building with ashlar dressings and an ashlar plinth chimney.

Mr Shaw said there are 3,000 listed buildings in West Oxfordshire.

Action was taken in 2006 to prevent the owner from storing scrap vehicles on the site.

Worcester News attempted to contact the owner for comment.