Sheffield Container Park Fargate: Work to start to remove metal boxes set to start today

The last of the businesses left the controversial development yesterday, although all had already stopped trading from the site at the top of Fargate by that point.

But work is scheduled to start to remove the structure today, with removal likely to take up to six weeks. But the site must be clear from March to make way for a revamp of Fargate.

Container Park was supposed to open in July offering street food, bars and shops. It partially opened in October and by the time it is removed total spend on the scheme will be about £600,000 – double the original £300,000 estimate.

Problems have included missing power cables, which meant a diesel generator was required, costing up to £20,000-a-month. An upstairs bar was abandoned over red tape and costs. Some £70,000 was spent on ‘staging and levelling,’ an insider said.

Moving the location 6ft cost a further £70,000 after Yorkshire Water - which had not been consulted - warned the structure could have damaged one of the city’s biggest sewers.

One boss whose business left the site this weekend said they had broken even during their time at the container park, but felt that his brand, the Clapping Seoul Korean food takeaway, had benefitted from the exposure its location provided.

But most of shoppers who spoke to The Star said they would not miss the site, some calling it an ‘eyesore’.