A residents’ group has welcomed the sale of the former Grosvenor Pub in Hanwell to a gastropub chain.

The well known watering hole in Oaklands Road closed in autumn last year and was put up for sale at about £850,000.

Members of West Ealing Neighbours said there were fears that the long-standing community hub could have been turned into flats. At one stage, the group said it was looking into whether locals wanted to rally together and put up the funds to save the site.

David Highton, chair of group, said he was pleased the site was being kept for its original use.

He said: “When the pub went up for sale I thought it would be converted into flats, so I’m glad that it’s still going to be a pub. The new pub will be a gastropub, but I doubt the prices will be too high as it’s not in a commercial area.

“The area it’s in is residential and a lot of people live close by. It was really run down before and I’m surprised that it carried on for as long as it did. It’s a bold move, but it has great potential, and is a great investment for the area.”

The pub has been bought by the Food & Fuel, which was set up in June 2006 and owns six gastropubs, a sports pub and four cafe bars, all of which are in London.

The company is due to open Maggie’s Vintage Beats and Breakfast, a retro-style licensed cafe, in Pitshanger Park this month.

Peter Myers, spokesman for Food & Fuel, said the chain had bought the pub but could not confirm how much for, though he did add it was not as much as the £1.2 million speculated by West Ealing Neighbours on its website.

He said: “Food & Fuel has indeed bought The Grosvenor though I’m not sure where the sum quoted has come from, certainly not ourselves. The intention is to refurbish the pub, architecturally, to its former glory in the coming months.”