A pub where two people were murdered by the IRA will be bulldozed to make way for a block of flats, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

Developers were given the green light to demolish the Kings Arms in Frances Street and build 19 homes.

A replacement boozer will also be built in place of the “eyesore” pub which has been empty for years.

The popularity of a pub was questioned by one neighbour, Angela Bird, who said at a planning meeting on April 17: “I support the proposal, for five years the previous owners sat on planning permission.

“But the soldiers from the barracks aren’t going to use the pub because of security reasons.

"Nobody’s going to use it – they use Wetherspoon's nowadays. It’s redundant – it should become a community centre.”

The developers said they have an agreement with a pub company who will offer “local food and drink”, setting it apart from Wetherspoon's.

Greenwich Council approved a similar plan in 2015 to knock the pub down for flats, on the condition that the plaque of the old pub would be installed in its replacement.

The new plans include an increase to 10.5 per cent affordable housing, split between shared ownership and socially rented.

Councillor Steve Offord raised questions over the appropriateness of shared ownership.

Cllr Offord said: “We’ve seen a change in climate in relation to shared ownership. It’s become clearer and clearer that shared ownership is moving away from the opportunities for local people. I’d like to request that shared ownership goes to social rented.”

Ed Barratt, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said the possibility had been assessed but the current proposal was the most viable.

The Kings Arms was targeted in the 70s, when a shrapnel bomb was thrown through the window, killing two people, and injuring dozens more.

Nobody has been prosecuted but the IRA took credit for the attack that killed a gunner from the Royal Artillery and a sales clerk.

Moving to support the application, chairman of the planning board Cllr Mark James said it would be a "landmark development" for the site.

Councillors voted seven to one in favour of bulldozing the pub, with one abstention, and developers hope to complete the development as soon as possible.