The owners of a country pub have criticised their council’s decision to shut a nearby car park at 6pm each night, arguing that it will significantly harm their business.

Harrow Council has announced that the gates of the public car park in Old Redding will be locked in the evenings to tackle anti-social behaviour in the area.

But the team at The Case is Altered pub, which is around 150 metres up the road, pointed out that many of their customers rely on the car park.

They agree that measures need to be taken to improve the area but described the closing time as “drastic”.

In an attempt to engage with the council, they suggested pushing the time back – to cater for evening diners – or offered to lock up themselves at 11pm when the pub shuts.

“We’ve spent a lot of money on brightening up the area and making it attractive to families,” they said in a statement.

“We want to keep this traditional English pub going. We don’t want empty businesses in Harrow – it makes the borough look bad.”

They added that much of the anti-social behaviour takes place after midnight, something they say has been confirmed by a local police sergeant.

Cllr Ramji Chauhan, who represents Harrow Weald ward for the Conservatives, urged the owners to gather public support against the decision.

He said: “I feel angry on behalf of the pub because it is unfair what [the council] is doing.

“They have improved the pub and the surrounding atmosphere, but this will damage the business because the council isn’t prepared to close it later.”

He added he is prepared to hand in a petition on behalf of the pub at a future council meeting.

A spokesman for Harrow Council said it had been left with no choice following several incidents at the site.

He said: “This car park has attracted a lot of nuisance and anti-social behaviour where reckless driving has seen cars stuck in mud and a memorial bench removed.

“This is completely unacceptable, and we have therefore had to take the decision to close the car park from 6pm to 8am.

“It is unfortunate that we have had to do this because of vandalism caused by a few.

“We hope that people we still be able to enjoy the view while we look at ways we can stop this sort of behaviour.”