A public hearing has been announced as a developer continues its push to replace a Morden pub with flats and shops.

After their planning application was rejected by Merton Council’s planning committee in January, developer Reef Estates is appealing to the Government to overturn their decision and allow them to demolish the Morden Tavern in Central Road.

The Bristol-based Planning Inspectorate will decide whether to uphold the appeal and overturn the council’s decision, after the public hearing at Morden Civic Centre on August 1.

But campaigners, who instead want to bring back the pub as a co-operative, said 1,100 residents have already registered their objections in advance of the hearing.

A spokesman for St Helier Pub Group (SHPG), which is supported by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said it was pleased for the opportunity to publically discuss why the council, which owns the pub site, agreed to sell the land to the developer without inviting other developers to bid for the site.

He said: "Support for SHPG, which has a business plan to buy back this historic public house and run it as a community co-operative, has grown as local residents have increasingly become aware of the questionable dealings regarding the Morden Tavern affair and Merton Council who own the Freehold.

"The SHPG are delighted by the huge public support shown by local residents.

"If this does not prove that St Helier not only wants its own pub back but also that if reopened as a community owned co-operative its future success will be assured."

Do you think the Morden Tavern should be brought back or replaced with something else? Leave a comment below, tweet us at @WimbledonNews or email Omar at: ooakes@london.newsquest.co.uk.