TIME has been called on a landmark pub in the shadow of the old Severn Bridge, after a construction company won permission to convert it into offices.

Legend has it that rock star Bob Dylan called into Beachley’s Old Ferry Inn, right beside the old Aust crossing slipway, after travelling across the Severn at the start of his 1966 ‘Judas’ tour, when he was famously booed by fans for ’going electric’.

Dylan’s journey was immortalised by a photo of him waiting at the Aust slipway en route from Bristol to Cardiff, which was used as the artwork for Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home documentary soundtrack in 2005.

But The Times They Are a-Changin’ for the rundown Victorian Old Ferry Inn now, which stands virtually right beneath the old Severn Bridge and began life as a vicarage.

Forest planners have granted civil engineering firm Certus Construction, based in Tidenham, permission to convert the premises into its headquarters, after an auction in June attracted no bidders at a guide price of £260,000 to £300,000.

The pub has been up for sale since December 2016 after the previous owner went bankrupt, said Forest planning officer Hannah Barry, and the applicant had provided information showing the business was ‘no longer financially viable.’

She said that if sympathetically converted into offices and storage space, the building and its setting would be enhanced.

Planning agent Grassroots Planning said the pub had failed to sell since being put on the market two years ago.

“The previous pub operator had been in financial difficulties for some time, and after bankruptcy the pub went into receivership,” a spokesperson said.

“Following this, the receivers marketed the property for a very long time without any offers for the site for use as a pub being received.

“The pub has struggled for many years and efforts were made to increase its viability, such as incorporating additional rooms and apartments within the building to improve its tourism offer.

“However, given the surrounding location which is primarily MOD land (Beachley Barracks) and the Old Severn Bridge which forms the M48, the rooms were never fully occupied and the business continued to struggle.

“Aside from the army base housing, there is no community in this area which would sustain a facility such as this one, and we believe that the MOD base has its own licensed premises.

“Certus Construction’s current site is limited in size and they would like to increase their business space by converting the Old Ferry Inn to offices which will in turn assist the company in growing and continuing its success.”

Certus expects 12 employees to be based at the three-storey building, which as an inn boasted a 90-cover restaurant with uninterrupted views out over the River Severn.

Tidenham Parish Council had expressed concern that plant and heavy vehicles could obstruct the work of the Severn Area Rescue Association, whose headquarters is beyond the pub underneath the bridge.

But Forest planners approved the change of use on condition that access was kept clear for SARA.