ANGRY regulars crammed into a Stourbridge pub on Monday night to voice their opposition at proposals to build a convenience store on the car park.

They packed into a public meeting staged at the Hare and Hounds in Wynall Lane, Wollescote, which is under threat from having a Co-operative store constructed on site the premises.

The meeting had been organised by UKIP as part of their ongoing ‘Save The Pubs’ campaign.

They distributed around 2,000 leaflets ahead of the meeting and UKIP spokesman Craig Winyard confirmed: “We were really surprised by the size of the turnout.

"The Hare and Hounds doesn’t have a particularly big function room and it got to the point where I don’t think we could have squeezed many more people in.

“The licensee Lee Sargeant has raised a great deal of money for good causes to the point where the pub has become an important part of the local community and I think that was reflected in the amount of people who turned out.”

Local UKIP MEP’s James Carver and Bill Etheridge both spoke at the meeting and promised to raise the issue of threatened pub closures at the European Parliament.

A petition has been launched, which has already obtained 300 signatures.

Mr Carver, who is UKIP’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge, said: “Pubs are community assets and we will fight for those that are making a profit.

“I urge people to put pressure on all political parties and hold them to account on this issue.”

Mr Carver also intends to take part in another public meeting at the Bridge pub in Moss Grove, Kingswinford, on Thursday, April 2, starting at 7.30pm, where he will be joined by UKIP colleague Councillor Paul Brothwood, who is the party’s parliamentary candidate for the Dudley South constituency.