Residents '˜prepared to buy' troubled pub

Residents have signalled they are willing to buy a Sheffield pub that closed suddenly.
The Plough, SandygateThe Plough, Sandygate
The Plough, Sandygate

The Plough, at Sandygate, shut earlier this month because of a decline in trade, and its owner, Enterprise Inns, has said it is ‘reviewing options’. But supporters who had The Plough successfully listed as an asset of community value are considering lodging a bid to purchase the building.

Sheffield Council approved the application last year following fears the pub, out to let at the time, was set to become a shop. Assets cannot be demolished or converted without planning permission, and residents are given six months to attempt to buy property.

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Sandygate resident Peter Duff, among those campaigning to save The Plough, said the group was prepared to act, but the pub needed to be officially put on sale first.

“We have been seriously considering a community buy-out but under the current legislation we can only bid if Enterprise announce an intention to sell, a community group can’t initiate a sale. Trade had fallen off again because the pub is becoming increasingly run-down.”

A spokeswoman for Enterprise said: “The publican gave us a week’s notice, in line with the terms of his contract, that he wished to leave the Plough due to low levels of trade. Unfortunately this left us with no alternative but to close the pub while we review options for it.”

It is believed that a pub has been open on the site opposite Hallam FC, the world’s oldest football ground, for 400 years.

Last week a report highlighted the role Sheffield’s pubs play in attracting visitors, and said the city was the world’s ‘real ale capital’.