The future of a Yorkshire Dales village pub looks increasingly uncertain after the property was sold off at a knock-down price without its car park.
The George and Dragon, in Aysgarth, was sold at auction last week for £60,500.
But the premises went under the hammer without a large part of its car park.
The update comes just weeks after a house in the car park, with a restriction meaning it can only be occupied by someone working at the pub, was also auctioned off.
The four-bedroom property sold for £263,000 after being advertised with a guide price of just £19,000.
Villagers are now waiting to see what happens next, with concerns that the car park could be sold off as a plot for housing.
One villager, who asked not to be named, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “You’ve got a pub and a house linked to the pub potentially owned by different people.
“Even if the same person who owns the house bought the pub, they haven’t got a car park — it’s a mess.”
The pub, house and car park were bought as a single lot in December last year by a property developer when the guide price for the entire site was £300,000.
A section 106 agreement, issued in 1996 when planning permission was granted for the house, means the occupant of the property should work in the pub.
Upper Dales councillor Yvonne Peacock said the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) was monitoring the situation.
She said: “We want to see the George and Dragon back running as a village pub.
“That’s the aim that we’re looking. The house was approved with the link to the pub and if that’s broken then it’s totally wrong.”
The YDNPA said they had not yet received a planning enquiry regarding the house in the car park.
A spokesperson added: “In advance of the sale, the authority advised the auctioneers that the pub was a listed building, and that they update the sale details accordingly.
“The authority also made clear that the holding’s current and only lawful use was as an inn. That position would remain unchanged unless, and until, planning permission was granted for a change of use.”
The parish council is hoping to register the pub, which closed last year, as an asset of community value.
