A beloved local pub has been given a lifeline after an application to demolish it has been temporarily blocked.

The owners of The Stag Pub in Westbridge Road, Battersea, applied to Wandsworth Council to have the pub knocked down on May 17.

The council is debating whether the building should be listed as an asset of community value (ACV), but it was feared in the interim the owners, the Wellington Pub Company, had a window to demolish it.

However, a spokesperson for Wandsworth Council said: "We are currently in the process of determining whether or not The Stag should be listed as an asset of community value, reflecting its importance to the history of the borough and its contribution to the social well-being of its residents.

"Whilst this process is ongoing the owners cannot demolish or sell the pub or allow it to be used as anything else.

"If an ACV is granted then the local community will have a six month window in which to raise sufficient funds to purchase it and retain it as a pub."

The application for demolition has dismayed residents in the area, who worry it will be a huge loss to the community.

In comments on the application, residents spoke of the "loss of local character" that would ensue and commended the architectural and community value of the pub.

A petition Save the Stag, which had 329 supporters at the time of writing, was launched by local Will Horder to stop the pub being demolished.

He said: "For more than 200 years the Stag has been more than just a place to meet, and drink.

"It’s been the centre of our community where people can find new friends, become part of the community, or simply go to find company.

"If we lose our pub, we will have lost it forever. Let’s refuse to be the generation of Battersea residents that lost the local pub simply because we stood by and did nothing.”

Local Will Hadwen said he was "delighted" to hear the news.

He said: "The Stag is one of the few reminders of what this area may have been like once - when it was factories all along the riverbank, at least there was somewhere to go for a drink!

"The mix of old and new is one of the things which makes Battersea special and I really hope we do not lose it.

"Added to that, increasing gentrification means places like the Stag are few and far between."

The Wellington Pub Company has been contacted for comment.