Campaigners enjoyed a well-earned drink after a pub threatened with closure was given protection against development.

Tooting pub the Selkirk has been listed as an asset of community value (ACV) by Wandsworth Council.

This designation means should the current owners of the pub sell, they must offer the community the chance to buy it.

Wandsworth Council is planning on using the piece of legislation, alongside Article 4 directions, which act as another layer of protection in planning law, on 121 pubs across the borough, to protect the venues being converted into flats or supermarkets.

Among the pubs expected to benefit are the Alma, the Ship and the Cat’s Back in Wandsworth, the Bricklayers Arms, Arab Boy and Railway in Putney, the Plough and the Beehive in Battersea along with the Trafalgar Arms, the Wheatsheaf and the Selkirk in Tooting.

Last month Wands-worth Council ordered developers to rebuild the Alchemist pub in Battersea after having retrospective planning per- mission denied.

Dan Watkins, who ran in the general election in Tooting for the Conservatives, has campaigned for a number of years to protect pubs in the area.

He said: “The Selkirk is not just a much-loved pub, but a historic building, a fantastic place for a meal and a popular meeting place for community groups and residents.

“After our successful campaigns to save the Wheatsheaf and Trafalgar Arms pubs by listing them as assets of community value, I worked with residents to proactively list the Selkirk pub and reduce the threat of it being sold to a developer. Thanks to all the residents who supported our campaign by signing the petition.”

One of the people at the forefront of the campaign to save the pub was Robert Hughes.

He said: “It is great news that the council has listened to our campaign to secure the pub future as a valued community space.”