Russell Brand has ‘ripped the heart out of the community’ by letting his Oxfordshire village pub fall into disrepair, neighbours say.
Brand bought the Crown Inn in Pishill in December 2021 for £850,000 but has not opened it to the public.
Instead buildings on the site have been used by the comedian, actor and campaigner to record broadcasts for his army of online followers and host.
He had applied to planners to transform it into a media hub and base for his Rumble podcast. Brand, 49, withdrew the plans after a backlash from locals and pressure from the council.
South Oxfordshire Council described the plans as ‘unsuitable’ with the loss of the pub as a public amenity while the studios could cause nuisance to neighbours.
Locals say the grade II listed pub has been left ‘in limbo’ as it falls into disrepair. The pub garden is overgrown and there are issues with the upstairs ceilings, they say.
Brand carried out a lot of building work on the site but the project has juddered to a halt amid planning issues.
Caroline Dempsey told Metro: ‘It’s sad. The closure of the pub has ripped the heart out of the local community. It was the place we met and made contact it kept us together. Now it is just sitting there falling into disrepair. It’s such a shame.
‘The pub was a destination for walkers. It was a place farmers could meet.
‘Now we are in limbo. When Brand came here first he said he would not re open it as a pub but things would be ‘cool’. Well, they are not and we want answers. Maybe he could sell it and it could be used as a mixed use space with the pub open.
‘At the moment it’s all blocked. We are not happy and we need a change. It’s getting untidy it needs attention. It was a destination people would head to we don’t want it to be an eyestore.’
She said other than a woman who comes in on a daily basis to check the pub property it is just being left unoccupied.
Mrs Dempsey added: ‘When Brand was broadcasting a few years ago from a building in the garden I could hear him, it was disruptive. I wouldn’t call him an ideal neighbour.’
It is understood that a local couple showed an interest in buying the Crown from Brand to reopen as pub.
However after a meeting with the comedian who is now a self styled guru with millions of followers, a deal was ruled out for now.
A local told Metro: ‘Brand was very charming when he arrived giving us gifts like hampers.
‘However the relationship has soured. There is no transparency as to what is going on with the pub. A multi media space is no good to any of us. We just wish he would sling his hook and let someone get on with running it as a pub again. It’s becoming an eyesore. Local people were interested in taking it over but after one meeting it was clear it would be difficult.’
Brand has relocated to Miami leaving locals to stew on the sight of the unkempt property at the heart of their village.
A former farmer told Metro: ‘The community is dying. The pub was the glue that kept the community together. That’s all gone. We don’t want the council to give in to celebrity and money. It should be about more than that.’
A woman who was in the pub on Tuesday checking on the premises said when approached by Metro: ‘Russell Brand is a very nice man. I’ve met him he is a good man.’
Brand is set to return to the UK to face five sex offence charges involving four women between 1999 and 2005, including rape and sexual assault. He denies all allegations.
Metro has contacted representatives for Russell Brand for comment.
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