Talks under way about future of ex-pub building

Talks are under way about the future of a well-known former pub, a council leader says.

Chambers in Gloucester was part of the city centre's nightlife for years but it was closed in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic and never reopened.

Gloucester City Council leader Jeremy Hilton told councillors the local authority was "close to finishing discussions" with a food and beverage outlet.

He said he could not reveal more details until "the legals have been done".

The council had previously advertised the site on a leasehold basis and at least one bid was submitted which included a vision for a pub with a cafe, food and games space.

However, nothing came from that proposal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Conservative opposition leader of the council Stephanie Chambers called the building - which is currently boarded up in Kings Square - "derelict" and an "eyesore".

"I wouldn't like to see some sort of nightclubby type place there," she told a council meeting on Thursday.

The new tenants of the space would become part of the ongoing £200m regeneration of Gloucester city centre, alongside the soon-to-be finished University of Gloucestershire campus in the former Debenhams building and The Forum.

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