Lincoln Imp: Campaigners elated as Scunthorpe pub demolition plans refused

Campaigners want the music venue to be run by the local community

Campaigners hope to reopen a former music venue in Scunthorpe after councillors rejected plans to demolish it.

Admiral Taverns had wanted to pull down the Lincoln Imp to make way for 20 flats on the site.

But the pub group's proposals were rejected by North Lincolnshire Council's planning committee for the second time on Wednesday.

The company shut down the 300-capacity venue and pub in August 2022.

Campaigners said they were "elated" the application to bulldoze the Gloucester Road venue had been turned down.

"The Lincoln Imp is more than a venue, it's a community," said 22-year-old musician Emily Jackson.

Lorraine Briggs, 67, who managed the pub for eight years before its closure, added: "We came here today praying it was not going to be knocked down."

Campaigners now hope to secure funding to buy the building and reopen it as a community-run music venue.

Lorraine Briggs ran the pub for eight years before it closed

Admiral Taverns was first refused permission to knock down the building in August last year due to concerns about the loss of a community asset.

It says the venue is "commercially unviable" and would require more than £282,000 investment to reopen.

Council officers had recommended revised proposals be approved on Wednesday on the grounds the Lincoln Imp had been closed for 15 months and "no longer provides a community facility".

But the planning committee unanimously rejected the plans, with councillors saying they were not convinced the pub group had tried hard enough to find a buyer to keep the venue running.

Richard Gee, director of developers Roman Sumner Associates, said the pub had been "actively marketed" but "not a single party has stepped forward".

However, campaigners said they had repeatedly enquired about the possibility of purchasing the building and were told contracts had already been exchanged.

"We just come up against brick walls with Admiral Taverns all the time," Ms Briggs said.

The BBC has contacted Admiral Taverns for comment.