One of London’s youngest landladies is fighting to save her Shadwell pub from developers by listing it as an asset of community value.

Last week Kelly McGlynn, 27, saw off planners trying to knock down the Dean Swift pub in Deancross Street, and build a five storey block of flats.

Miss McGlynn said four other pubs in her area had already recently shut their doors for good and if the Dean Swift was to close as well her customers “would have nowhere else to go”.

She said: “I’ve grown up in pubs and this is a lovely community pub that you don’t see much anymore.

“Pubs are closing all over London, especially in this area. I have regulars that I see every day.

“At Christmas I cook for 30 or 40 people who wouldn’t have a dinner otherwise. It’s an amazing place.

“This is my home and my business and I don’t want to see it destroyed.”

One pub a week closes in London, according to City Hall figures, and the Mayor of London has vowed to increase planning protections to keep smaller, independent bars in business.

Miss McGlynn, who took over the Dean Swift three years ago, hopes Tower Hamlets Council will list her pub by December.

“I’m confident it will get listed and will still be standing long after I’m gone,” she said.

“Hopefully another application isn’t put in before then. If it’s listed we will be able to fight future applications more easily.”

A spokesman for developers ENSCO 864 said more than 50 people had signed a petition in favour of knocking down the pub.

He added: “The existing pub does not trade well. We have designed the space to be flexible. Our proposal makes better use of the land.

“Our plans have evolved through talks with officers and local residents and we are keen to keep a community use of some kind on the ground floor.”

At a meeting of the council’s planning committee this month, the planning officer said the pub had been proposed for listing in “recognition of its positive contribution to the character of the area”.