GIANT pub chain J D Weatherspoon is searching for premises in Tavistock, after rejecting the offices owned by the town council.
John Chapman, acquisitions surveyor for Weatherspoons, confirmed the Victorian offices in Drake Road had been considered for redevelopment as a pub — but were rejected because of their size.
Mr Chapman said: 'The property is attractive but it's too small and it would prove too costly for my clients to extend at the rear.
'Ultimately, my clients are looking to acquire 100 sites a year and if the right site comes up in Tavistock, we will progress it very quickly. It's a town we want to move to.'
Mr Chapman said Weatherspoons are looking at a number of properties in the town.
'The problem we always have is finding the right ground floor area. We need large places to do high turnover, because we sell beer so cheaply,' he said.
Mr Chapman said it was 'early days' and he could not disclose which properties were being looked at yet.
He said Weatherspoons would look for a building with a minimum space of 4,000 square feet, plus a further 2,000ft for ancillary office and storage space.
'We will look at any sort of building. My clients prefer some character because it looks nicer, but at the end of the day if it's large enough, they will develop it to high standards anyway.'
The town council office building is to be marketed because it would cost around £250,000 for the authority to bring it up to new health and safety standards by the end of 2003.
Town clerk Col Roger Howard said Weatherspoons had been very interested in the premises and it was a shame a deal had not been struck.
'The building is not actually on the market yet — I don't want to put it on until I know we have somewhere to move to.
'At the moment we are looking at the feasibility of moving into the Court Gate complex, but that report won't be ready for another month,' said Col Howard.