A historic pub has closed down, with a supermarket franchise poised to buy it.

The Lord Nelson, in Main Road, Cleeve, ceased trading on November 24 after owners Greene King agreed to sell.

The pub – which operated under Hungry Horse branding – was put on the market in September with an asking price of £625,000.

A Greene King spokesman said: “Following the difficult decision taken to put the Lord Nelson on the market, we can confirm that the pub has now been sold.

“The team there has done a fantastic job and we are working with them to find alternative roles within our estate wherever possible.”

Jonathan Tout, of Tout’s Budgens – which has stores in Langford and Nailsea – confirmed his firm intends to purchase it, but said the deal is not yet completed.

He told the Times: “We have exchanged contracts with Greene King to buy it, and we hope it will be completed in the next two weeks.”

A campaign to save the pub has received backing from more than 300 people.

Spokesman for the campaign, Ian Fergusson said: “After years of neglect by Greene King – with no real attempt to either improve the pub or ensure survival as a going concern – our Lord Nelson pub has been closed.

“Some 200 years of history and heritage risks being wiped-out by developers who have no interest in maintaining the social fabric of Cleeve and the character of our village risks being irrevocably changed.”

Mr Fergusson confirmed the campaign hopes to convince North Somerset Council to list the pub as an asset of community value, which ‘will help curtail or prevent demolition or other change to the pub’.

He added: “We hope this allows time for a caring, village-focused owner to save the Lord Nelson and return it to the sort of community asset that was valued by so many people in the decades prior to Greene King’s calamitous tenure.”