Anger at plans to rename The Crown pub in Llay, Wrexham
Residents opposed to plans to rename a village pub in Wrexham have been urged to "make their opinions known".
Marston's Inns and Taverns has announced plans to change the name of The Crown Inn, Llay, to The Dormouse.
It is refurbishing the pub and says the name change would give the business "every opportunity to flourish".
However, the Llai Local History Society claims the pub and its name is "rooted in the past and the history of the area".
Vic Tyler Jones, the society's president, said local residents only discovered the pub's name was going to change "to The Dormouse, of all things," when posters were put up in the village last week.
He said no permission was needed to change a pub's name, and said some pubs had been given new names that are "totally inappropriate".
He added: "I think people should think twice before they change any pub's name because names are rooted in the past and the history of the area."
Mr Tyler Jones believes The Crown was built in 1929-30 and inherited its name from a pub in nearby Esclusham which closed at roughly the same time.
He said the name "probably goes back to the fact that during the English Civil War, most of north Wales was royalist".
He said the society was "calling on people to make their opinions known".
Marston's said The Dormouse name was "not set in stone".
The brewer said it was "delighted to be able to save this historic pub for the people of Llay" and the building would be renovated to provide "a really nice pub for local families".
It added: "We have taken the decision to change the name because we want to give the pub restaurant, and our investment, every opportunity to flourish.
"It will also reflect the fact that the pub will have a completely different feel to what was there before."