Landlords of a historic Battersea pub have lost their battle to save it from being turned into luxury flats.

Cate Toomey and Aaron Tumata, who run The Castle in Battersea High Street, had been campaigning for more than 12 months to save their beloved drinking hole.

But on Monday Wandsworth Council's planning committee granted developers Languard permission to demolish the pub and construct a four-storey building in its place.

Although Languard have said they intend build a new pub below the proposed flats, many of the 700 residents who objected cited the loss of a community hub as the primary reason for their concern.

The application states a new pub would be "desirable", but Langards is not obligated to build one and could change it to a retail space at any point.

Committee members pledged to remove Languard's ability to change the proposed usage of the ground floor without its permission.

According to English Heritage, there has been a pub on The Castle's site since the 17th Century.

Before its demise, the pub had an impressive clientele including Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Irish band The Script and entrepreneur PY Gerbeau, who was responsible for the running the Millennium Dome.