A PUB was closed to protect others in the area, a brewery boss has said.

Thwaites shut the Gibraltar in Dukes Brow, Blackburn, on Sunday after agreeing to sell the building to be turned into a house or flats.

The move was criticised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and was mentioned on two Facebook groups mourning the shutting of Blackburn pubs.

But Andrew Buchanan, Blackburn-based Thwaites’ director of operations, defended the closure and the firm’s use of restrictive covenants.

The contract clauses mean many pubs sold by Thwaites, including the Gibraltar, are not allowed to remain open as pubs.

Mr Buchanan said: “In a very limited number of instances, we may place a restrictive covenant on the property’s future use.

“In doing so we are trying to encourage a viable pub industry in the teeth of all of the pressures currently faced by the sector as a whole.”

Last year, Thwaites put several East Lancashire pubs up for sale, all with restrictive covenants placed on them.