A pub with the biggest heart in Chester could be bulldozed just months after regulars raised £100,000 in memory of the landlord’s daughter.

After serving the community for almost 20 years, the licensees of The Ship Victory on George Street will pull their last pint on New Year’s Eve as the popular pub closes its doors for the final time.

Landlord Joe Gildea, 74, wanted to pass on the mantle to friends on his retirement next year.

But leaseholders Cheshire West and Chester Council say they want it for ‘development opportunities’ although admit no decision has yet been made.

Now regulars fear the Grade II-listed building, which has stood as an ale house on the site since the Napoleonic wars, could be demolished and are preparing to launch a campaign to save the ‘little pub with a big heart’.

Joe, 74, and his wife Helen 53, have worked tirelessly to raise more than £107,000 for the Countess of Chester Hospital’s Breast Care in memory of Joe’s daughter Angela, who died of breast cancer in 2002.

“This place is owned by CWaC. I have been here since June 1994, but there has always been a clause within the contract that they can give me notice,” said Joe, who was due to retire in June after celebrating 20-years at the pub, but is now having to retire five months before the anniversary.

“We have just carried on year after year, but now it seems they want this place for some kind of development. They want it back.”

Joe, who has suffered a stroke and has a pace maker, had been planning to retire due to ill health but now fears his pub may vanish forever if the council decides to demolish it to make way for a new bus exchange, as earmarked in the One City Plan.

“We are going because the council want the pub back for development. I am retiring anyway, but we wanted the pub to stay open for our friends and regulars,” said Joe, who will be moving with his wife Helen to a flat near the Countess of Chester Hospital  in the New Year.

“It is very sad after all these years. A lot of people have met and married here. This has been our home and has been an enormous part of our lives. We have a lot of memories from this place.”

Joe will be holding a special auction on New Year’s Eve where regulars will be able to get their hands on a memento to remember their much-loved pub.

The pub was named charitable pub of the year at 2012’s Great British Pub Awards, after Joe inspired regulars to take part in dozens of charity challenges to raise money for the breast cancer department stop raising money in memory of his daughter who died aged 32 from breast cancer.

But despite leaving the pub, which is the only drinking hole named the Ship Victory in the UK, Joe has vowed to keep the fundraising efforts going, saying: “We have raised £107,013.34 and we will continue raising money just in a different way.”

Campaigners for real ale group CAMRA are preparing to fight to save the local pub, which it says  is one of the last real community pubs in the city.

“We will try to save it,” said Brian Vardy, chairman of CAMRA branch for Chester and South Clwyd, who is a regular at the pub.

“There are very few community pubs left in Chester. We want the council to look for a new tenant to run it and keep it open as a valuable pub for the community.”

A spokesperson for CWaC confirmed it had been approached by a potential new landlord for the pub, but said no decision had yet been made on the future of the building.

“We have been informed by Mr Gildea of his plans to retire as landlord of the Ship Victory.

“Mr Gildea’s tireless dedication to charity fundraising over the years has been well documented, and it will be a great shame to see him go. We wish him a long and happy retirement.

“No decisions have yet been taken regarding the future of the pub.”