RMT leader Bob Crow throws support behind under-threat London pub the Cock Tavern, Somers Town

Sheila Gavigan, who has run Irish pub the Cock Tavern in Somers Town since 1999, says she will be “absolutely gutted” if she has to give up the pub that has become her home and has 12 years left on the lease.

The pub was sold by former landlord Admiral Taverns to British Virgin Islands-based property company Flamestrike on 28 April 2011, and is currently being run by management firm County Estate Pubs.

Flamestrike applied for possession of the property in March, but this was rejected after a counter-claim by Gavigan was accepted by Central London County Court. A two-day trial with regard to the counter-claim is due to take place on 15-16 October.

Flamestrike is understood to have stripped Gavigan of the discount on barrelage that she had been receiving under the terms of her lease, and earlier this year asked her to pay three months’ rent in advance.

Gavigan was recently given an award by the mayor of London Boris Johnson, which recognised her “outstanding contribution to improving London and the quality of life for Londoners”.

A campaign to save the pub has been launched by local residents and pub regulars, and has the backing of the RMT, whose headquarters are close to the pub.

“Too many working class pubs in the centre of our communities have already been driven out of business in the interests of greed,” said Crow. “The RMT, whose members and branches use the pub, is determined to stop that fate befalling the Cock.”

“When I first came, I barely had a customer through the door every day,” said Gavigan. “But it’s become my home, and the regulars have nowhere else to go. I’ll be absolutely gutted if I have to leave.”

Gavigan’s solicitor George Scott, of Ferdinand Kelly Solicitors, claims she’s entitled to her barrelage discount retrospectively from the time Flamestrike bought the pub.

The PMA tried to contact Flamestrike and its representatives on numerous occasions but got no response.