A STRUGGLING village pub has closed for the second time in under a year – and just 10 weeks after opening under new ownership.

The Plough Inn at Longparish was locked up again last weekend after new landlord Allen Watts called last orders on the rural boozer.

The Lunar Hare boss, who only took over The Plough in August, said he was “heartbroken” in making the decision.

He said: “It’s very disappointing.

"We came in and made the Lunar Hare work but even with that wealth of knowledge we still couldn’t make the Plough work.

“There are massive expenses in running a pub and when that figure and the income figure doesn’t balance then it isn’t rocket science what happens.

“After two and a half months we realised we weren’t going to make a profit.”

It is the second time in less than a year that the pub has shut, after previous occupant James Durrant plated up for the final time on Christmas Eve, 2015.

The tv chef, who shot to fame on the BBC’s Great British Menu, said at the time of closure that his gastro pub formula “didn’t work” in Longparish.

The Plough remained closed until August, when Mr Watts and wife Helen took over. However, last week the pair announced on Facebook that the “dangling axe had finally fallen”.

Mr Watts said: “At the moment we haven’t got the personal financial backing to plough into things like advertising and marketing and you need time to build up trust.

“It’s a great business model and it will work, but unfortunately we haven’t got the ability to do that at the moment.”

Despite the setback, Mr Watts reiterated that his other venture, the Lunar Hare, is still going strong.

He said: “The Lunar Hare is fine. We were stretched running two pubs. I thought it was going to be fine but I ended up spending most of my time on the A303 going back and forward between them.”

The pub’s owners, Enterprise Inns, have already put the Plough back on the market.

It is asking for a guide rent of £38,000-a-year and estimate a potential turnover of over £400,000.

A spokesperson for Enterprise Inns said: “We are in discussions with interested parties keen to take on The Plough, and hope customers old and new will support the new publican by visiting