Nell Gwynne's local threatened with closure

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Now the pub, named after the mistress of Charles II, is threatened with closure because of plans to redevelop the site.

Situated in Bull Inn Court, a tiny alley off the Strand, the Nell Gwynne is a former finalist in the Evening Standard Pub of the Year competition.

Licensee Trish Murphy said there had been a pub on the site since the Middle Ages.

"It used to be called the Bull Inn and Nell Gwynne used to use it," she said. "She was very popular and after her death it was named the Nell Gwynne."

Described on one website as " winningly old-fashioned", the current building dates back to the late 19th century, when the old pub was demolished to make way for the expansion of the Adelphi Theatre next door. "It is very, very small," said Mrs Murphy, 61. "It's not a tourist pub. People go down the Strand and don't know it's there. It is a proper boozer. I don't do food, only sandwiches."

She said Law and Miller used to hold private parties at the pub. "It appealed to them because it was unpretentious," she added.

"Trendy posers don't fit in. You stand behind the bar sometimes and you see a famous barrister talking to a plumber." Actor Richard Harris, who used to live at the Savoy when he was in London, was another regular. "He loved my Guinness," said Mrs Murphy.

She and husband Jerry, 69, took over the lease 14 years ago when the pub was closed and in receivership.

Mr Murphy said: "It was in an atrocious state. If you've seen the worst pub in the Old Kent Road, that was it. It was a dossers' pub, to be honest. I spent £100,000 to get it back into shape. It is a lovely old pub now."

When he applied to renew the lease, he was told the landlords intended to turn the flats above into offices and use the pub as an entrance.

Mrs Murphy said: "When I heard I was horrified. I want to go on running the pub but further than that, I want the pub to survive.

"My customers love it. I think they will have trouble getting them out. There is going to be nothing left soon. There was another pub here, The Peacock, which is now a hamburger joint."