TURBULENT times in the licensed trade are being defied in Wharfedale as two closed pubs prepare to re-open.

With one national association claiming that as many as five pubs are closing every day, the outlook for Wharfedale’s ‘locals’could be gloomy.

The combined effect of the credit crunch and the fallout from the public places smoking ban is being blamed for a decline in trade and drop in profits.

The future of a number of local pubs looks uncertain, but there is renewed confidence in at least two of them.

Ben Rhydding’s Wheatley Hotel, closed in 2002 and the subject of two major planning battles, is set to be redeveloped and reopened by its new owner.

The Wheatley Lane pub was said to be a casualty of the drop in trade resulting from the 2001 foot and mouth disease crisis. Ben Rhydding residents formed campaign group Save Us Pub (SUP) and battled to stave off attempts to turn their beloved Wheatley into houses.

Punch Taverns has now sold the pub to the smaller Individual Inns chain which plans to refurbish the premises and create 12 hotel bedrooms.

A planning application for the work, which is thought to involve the demolition of newer parts of the building, is expected to go to Bradford Council shortly.

A spokesman for Individual Inns said: “We are thrilled and very excited about this site which represents a perfect compliment to our group and to that of the ethos of Individual Inns. With its idyllic setting and fine features, the Wheatley Hotel is ideal for our concept and which we are confident will work as successfully as has proven elsewhere.”

The chain owns the Tempest Arms at Eslack, near Skipton, and three other pubs.

Another pub about to re-open is Askwith’s popular village pub, The Black Horse. The pub shut in July when licensees Paul and Carol Spencer filed for bankruptcy. Birmingham-based owner Enterprise Inns hoped to get the pub running again within a few weeks, but it now says the pub should be reopen at the end of this month after a refurbishment.

A spokesman said: “We are pleased to be working with very experienced, award-winning operators, Nick and Chris Green, who are confident of returning The Black Horse to its former glory.

“The pub is currently undergoing a small refurbishment and we anticipate it will re-open by the end of September.”

The future does not look so rosy for Otley’s Summercross pub, however, where developers are being urged to abandon a housing scheme by the local MP.

Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland is calling on owner Chartford Homes to drop its housing plan and reopen the pub for the benefit of the community.

The developers wanted to build 14 terraced houses in its place, but planning applications to demolish the pub and replace it with homes were turned down by Leeds City Council earlier this year.

Now Chartford are being urged to “cut their losses” by Mr Mulholland.

Mr Mulholland has written to the developers asking them to reavel their plans for the building to the community, and he is asking the council’s planning department to ensure that the building is properly maintained.

He said: “Next month it will be a year since the landlord of the pub was forced to close the doors of the Summercross pub by developers, against the wishes of the publican and the local community.

“Since then it has been sitting there fenced off, an eyesore and it is in no one’s interest that the building sits there and becomes derelict. It is bad for the community and makes no sense for Chartford Homes as they are having to pay rates on the building as well as having a responsibility to maintain it, a responsibility they must be kept to.

“The over intensive and ill-thought through plans of Chartford Homes were comprehensively thrown out and it is time that they faced the fact that they made a mistake. I am aware that there has been interest expressed in opening it up as a pub again so it is time Chartford Homes cut their losses and had the sense and decency to sell the Summercross at a realistic price so it can reopen and serve the community it has served for so many years.”

No-one from Chartford Homes was prepared to comment.

Meanwhile, The Crescent Hotel in Ilkley is still waiting to hear about its future as buyers line up for a Liverpool-based brewery chain.

Fears for the Brook Street hotel arose when the Cains Beer Company went into administration in August.

The company owns dozens of pubs and hotels across the North, including Ilkley’s Crescent Hotel, The Devonshire Hotel in Grassington, and Steeton Hall, Steeton.

Administrator Price-Waterhouse Coopers last week closed a number of pubs in the North West which were owned by the chain.

A spokesman for PriceWaterhouse Coopers said the Ilkley hotel is continuing to trade as normal and looks likely to be sold as part of the wider chain.