Ye Olde Swiss Cottage pub after snowfall [Simon Lamrock]

A HISTORIC pub in Swiss Cottage is up for sale following its sudden closure – sparking a race against time to find a buyer who will keep it the way it is.

The owner of Ye Olde Swiss Cottage, Sarah Elizabeth Atkinson, has notified Camden Council of her intention to sell.

This sets a six-month ticking timer for bids under the terms of its “asset of community value” (ACV) protection in planning law.

It was listed after the chalet-style pub in the middle of the area’s gyratory was closed in February.

The bar had previously been part of the brewery chain Sam Smith’s portfolio of bars.

The company retains a string of bars to the north of Oxford Street, Fitzrovia, and is known for its slightly cheaper prices and self-brewed Alpine lagers.

The ACV protection order on the pub granted by Camden Council means a community interest group can come up with a bid before the owner can sell it on the open market – potentially to a buyer with a different view of what could go on the site.

The Belsize Society, which made the “asset of community value” application to the Town Hall earlier this year, this week lodged “an expression of interest”.

Dr Alan Selwyn, the society’s planning expert, said: “Our vision is to bring the pub back to its heyday as a pub and as a community asset for all – and to bring back the soul to Swiss Cottage.

“Whilst we don’t have a spare few million in our back pockets, we hope to widely publicise this opportunity in the hope someone with money and imagination will come forward to preserve the community value of this famous old watering hole.”

Mr Selwyn said he believed any new owner would want to redevelop the site.

He added: “We have some additional concerns that the unloved, and unlisted, Odeon will go the same way and present a great development potential for some ghastly new tower.”

Chris Langdon, Prabhat Vaze, Dr Alan Selwyn and Sanya Polescuk at Ye Olde Swiss Cottage

The once popular pub and the neighbouring cinema site is at the centre of the busy Swiss Cottage one-way system.

Resident groups are concerned that if the pub is not saved the Odeon will be next to go – with a huge site emerging ripe for a potential regeneration project.

The wariness towards this is fuelled by the stalemate which emerged on the opposite side of the road when buildings were demolished to make way for a new skyscraper at 100 Avenue Road, only for the scheme to hit one delay or dispute after another.

There has been a Swiss Cottage pub on the site since the 1830s but the familiar Swiss chalet-style refurbishment was made in 1986.

It is often said that Swiss Cottage tube station was named after the pub.

According to CAMRA, which is supporting the Belsize Society and Save Swiss Cottage Campaign group, there are some 217 community-owned pubs in Britain.

Horses at the pub during its Samuel Smith days

A petition has been signed by more than 2,200 people calling for the pub to be reopened.

The closure of Ye Olde Swiss left The North Star as the last pub in Finchley Road.

Ms Atkinson, who lives in Oban, Scotland, could not be reached for comment and Sam Smiths Brewery has never responded to requests for comment since the New Journal broke the news of the closure.

But a public notice from Camden Council said: “Notice is hereby given that Camden Council received notice that Sarah Elizabeth Atkinson, the owner of Ye Olde Swiss Cottage, intends to sell the property.”

It said that if the “full moratorium” was imposed the owner would not be able to “exchange contracts, except to a community interest group”, adding: “After the moratorium period, the owner is free to dispose of the property.”

The Odeon, which is closing its branch in Parkway, Camden Town, next year, said there were no current plans to close the Swiss Cottage cinema.