AN award-winning pub has cut its hours after the landlords announced they were quitting after seven years.

Jamie King and wife Charlotte took over the Anchor Inn in North Oxford in 2006 and made it a gourmet venue thanks to cash from their own pockets and brewery owners Wadworth.

The Hayfield Road pub won the Bib Gourmand Award for good food at reasonable prices and featured in the Good Food Guide 2013 and the Michelin Guide 2013.

But now the couple have served notice and the pub is now opening for drinks only from Wednesdays to Sundays.

The 1930s venue had struggled in the past year from falling trade and increased costs, a boss at the Wiltshire-brewery said.

Marketing and sales director Paul Sullivan assured residents that the brewery was keeping the Anchor as a pub.

He said: “We felt the right plan was in place and we hope to keep it going in a similar vein as it’s got a great kitchen.

“We were as surprised as anyone when we got their notice, as we thought they were doing very well. But they said they wouldn’t be able to make enough of a living if they carried on as tenants.

“Rising costs is the nature of the industry. The price of everything is going up and it is one of the challenges we have.”

Mr and Mrs King are still running the pub on a reduced basis but the tenancy has been advertised on the Wadworth website.

Mr King said: “We’re calling it a day. Everyone is really upset. It will be up to the next incumbents to choose what to do with it.”

He declined to comment further.

Patrons were saddened by the news.

Warnborough Road resident Paul Davies: “I’m in complete shock. The pub served great food and was a real asset to the neighbourhood. I came here once every two months to eat, and occasionally for a drink. The pub has been through a variety of owners and this was the best combination yet.”

Complins Close resident Nina Van-Schaick said: “It’s a shame. The staff were friendly and the food was of excellent quality and reasonably priced. It’s important for people here to have a pub.”

About 50 pubs have closed in the last five years across Oxfordshire, including 20 in the city.

Watering holes that have gone include the Fox and Hounds in Abingdon Road, the Chester Arms in Iffley Fields and the George Inn in Botley Road.

Tony Goulding, of Oxford CAMRA, said: “This is another example of the high costs of running some pubs and I don’t think the breweries are sympathetic enough.

“The days of 30-year tenancies are over but this is the way the whole business is going.

“We would not want to see this pub closed. It has a good reputation in the area and it won’t take long to fill that tenancy.”

In this year’s Budget chancellor George Osborne scrapped a planned 3p rise in beer duty and cut the price of a pint by 1p instead.

He said the alcohol duty escalator – which adds inflation plus two per cent – would be abolished for beer.