'Heartbreaking' closure of city's only LGBT bar

Kirsty Hebden-Lambird opened Bar Plus in Chelmsford with her wife Lilly in June

The closure of a city's only LGBT bar could be "heartbreaking" for many customers, its owner said.

Bar Plus, in Chelmsford, opened earlier this year, but founder Kirsty Hebden-Lambird said a dispute with the bar's landlord meant last orders would be called for the final time on New Year's Eve.

Mrs Hebden-Lambird, who runs the bar with her wife Lilly, hoped to reopen at a new location but said it "might take some time".

She said the past six months had been "a really wonderful time for the LGBT community" in the city.

Bar Plus - the city's only LGBT bar - is due to close after New Year's Eve

Bar Plus opened in June to coincide with Essex Pride, which is held in the city every year.

Closing the venue in Moulsham Street could be particularly upsetting for the local transgender community, Mrs Hebden-Lambird continued.

"We've got so many of them now that come here and can feel free to just be themselves.

"They're even singing karaoke now and things. When they first turned up they could barely speak to anybody because they were so scared.

"It's going to be heartbreaking, I think, for a lot of people, and it certainly is for Lilly and I who have put everything into this. It's just too much to bear."

She said the nearest LGBT pub was more than 20 miles (32km) away in Southend-on-Sea.

Elsewhere in Essex, plans to convert an empty shop in Colchester city centre - about 25 miles (40km) from Chelmsford - into a bar for drag acts were approved last month.