Hounslow Council has landed a huge court bill for attempting to prevent the demolition of a listed Victorian pub in Chiswick.

The local authority has been ordered to pay £35,000 in legal costs to the owner of Packhouse & Talbot in Chiswick High Road.

Owner Silus Investments won a ruling from Mrs Justice Lang at London's High Court quashing the council's decision on Friday (February 20).

Hounslow Council had designated the surrounding area as a conservation area in a bid to thwart the pub owner from proceeding with plans to demolish and redevelop the site.

However, the bulldozers won't be called in for now as the pub has been given a stay of execution after Silus guaranteed not to demolish it for six months, giving the council time to reconsider the matter and possibly make a renewed decision of that part of Chiswick High Road as a conservation area.

Hounslow had claimed it acted to protect the site’s special historic and architectural interest, with the Packhouse & Talbot locally listed since 1997 as a “fine example of Victorian public house exterior”.

It feared demolition plans would cause material harm to the area and said it acted urgently because it had been given advance notice of the owner's intention to carry out works between September and October last year.

The council made a decision only two days into a seven-day public consultation.

The judge ruled its decision-making process in the fast-track conservation moves resulted in "unfairness" to Silus and it had not met “minimum standards” on consultation, and denied Silus a proper opportunity to make representations.

A Hounslow Council spokesman said: “We now intend to start a completely fresh decision-making process in March.

"This will include a full consultation with all interested parties on the proposed conservation area and the detailed conservation area appraisal that has been prepared before a recommendation is made to the council’s planning committee.

“In the meantime, we welcome the undertaking by Silus to the court not to commence any demolition works at the public house, nor to apply for prior approval of the method of demolition, for six months from the date of the order (February 19).

“The designation decision was made when one month’s notice had been given of the landowner’s intention to demolish the pub during the summer holidays.

"The procedural problems would not have arisen without that tight timescale. The six month undertaking gives the council and the local community the opportunity for extensive consideration of a conservation area, which was not available last year.

“The council acknowledges the judge’s findings about the procedural matters in this case, particularly in relation to consultation, and is reviewing its practices and processes accordingly."

A formal consultation will be launched on the proposed Chiswick High Road conservation area with full consideration of the facts and views of residents and businesses.