THE future of a fire-hit village pub remains unclear after a premises licence review was postponed for a month.

The Elphinstone Arms was damaged in a fire last summer, with the building remaining closed since then.

A premises licence review hearing was due to take place in March but was deferred after lawyer Alistair Macdonald, representing Elphinstone Arms, was unable to attend.

The issue was then due to be discussed last Thursday but once again the matter was adjourned.

Mr Macdonald told members of East Lothian Council’s licensing board he had only received a report about the premises from Police Scotland and not ones from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service or East Lothian Council’s building control.

Copies of the reports were passed to him, along with the suggestion for a 10-minute adjournment.

However, Mr Macdonald told members this was not “satisfactory” and described the two other reports as a “complete bolt out of the blue”. Councillor Willie Innes, the council leader, instead suggested continuing the matter to another day.

Mr Macdonald added: “This is an unusual set of circumstances.

“It is not as if the place is opening. It is not going to open – we can give a guarantee that it is not going to open in the next month.” It was agreed to defer the review, which had been called for by Police Scotland, until the next board meeting, which takes place on May 28.

It is the latest development in a long saga surrounding the future of the pub.

The Elphinstone Arms was closed in February last year after it emerged that the company which held its licence had been dissolved in 2012.

The discovery followed a frightening assault on the pub by a gang of 20 masked men during a weekend of violence in the village.

Scott Dodds, the pub’s owner, was assaulted by two men in the village on February 22 last year.

The following evening, a group of about 20 men, wearing balaclavas and believed to be armed, tried to storm the pub, although they were unable to gain access.

The pub was re-opened last April but closed again within a month of opening after the new licence holder quit following a fireraising attempt at the premises while he was asleep in the flat upstairs.

A report from Rudy Fruzynski, licensing standards officer, dated March 3, confirmed the premises remained in “a damaged condition” since the fireraising on June 7.

He added: “It is likely that the insurance claim in respect of the fire damage will be settled within the next three or four weeks.” Mr Fruzynski’s report said that plans for the future of the premises continuing to trade as a pub were “uncertain at this stage” and “very much” depended on the outcome of the pending review.

Police Scotland are still investigating the incident of fireraising at the Elphinstone Arms.