BREWING giant Greene King has completed the sale of the popular village pub The Cherry Tree in Rowledge to a mystery buyer.

The 17th century inn closed its doors last month. Greene King has since confirmed it has sold its freehold interest in the pub, but neither the brewer or its agent Savills would disclose the identity of the new owner.

A spokesman for Greene King said: “After careful consideration, we decided to place The Cherry Tree on the market and it has now been sold to new owners.

“As a leading pub operator and brewer, we are committed to running high quality community pubs. To be able to continue to invest in our core estate, from time to time we have to make the difficult decision to sell pubs.”

A community group was hastily assembled following reports of The Cherry Tree’s impending sale late last year, spurred on by fears the popular pub could soon be lost to housing.

An application to register the pub as an Asset of Community Value was subsequently submitted to Waverley Borough Council, but at the time of writing this is still being considered by the council.

Any plans to redevelop The Cherry Tree for any purpose other than a public house would have to be preceded with a ‘change of use’ application, again to the borough council.