The developer behind plans to build a six-storey hotel on the site of a historic pub hopes it will become a “landmark” for the area.

Bobby Jhumat, who owns DSJ Homes, said the company was waiting for the green light to go ahead with demolishing the Joker pub in Cameron Road, Seven Kings.

The popular venue closed last month after years of speculation over its future.

Now Mr Jhumat said he hopes the new hotel will regenerate the area.

He said: “We want this to be a landmark for Seven Kings. This will be the first large building in the area.

“I know it was a pub and it had sentimental value for people who had been drinking there a long time.

“I want the locals to know we will be putting back something so they have somewhere to go.”

The 43-year-old said the new development would have a coffee shop and bar on the ground floor, open to the community.

“Obviously it’s not going to be as large as the Joker but we will have a bar so the locals have got somewhere to come back to.”

He said he hoped the new 95-room hotel, which was given planning permission last March, is expected to be completed in 18 months to two years.

The company which bought the pub in 2007 had initially planned to build flats before deciding to develop a hotel.

Mark Kennedy, of the Seven Kings & Newbury Park Residents’ Association, said pubs had a “historical and community significance”.

“Personally think it’s a great shame that they are going to knock the Joker down,” he said.

“It’s been there for a long, long time.

“They are building a hotel and with Crossrail coming [in 2018] there’s going to be a need for that.

“It could be successful. Time will tell.”