THE company that owns Walkabout has announced its Burnley town centre bar will close next month.

Bosses at iNTERTAIN said the bar was making a loss and its closure came as part of a review of all of its venues’ performances.

It comes a year after Luminar closed Lava Ignite, the town’s main nightclub, and Level One pulled out after just six months.

A spokesman for Walkabout said: “iNTERTAIN, the company that owns Walkabout, announced plans in January to reduce its debt and increase the level of investment in its bars across the UK in order to secure the future of the business.

MORE TOP STORIES:

“In order to do this we needed to look at all our venues across the UK and assess their performance levels.

“Unfortunately the Walkabout in Burnley is one of those venues.

“Due to current market conditions and the high level of rent we have to pay, the venue is making a loss.

“Additionally, our trading predictions do not see any change in this situation in the near future.

“It is therefore with sadness that we can confirm that the venue is likely to close in mid-March.”

“This is a very sad day for us and our staff and it is not a decision we have taken lightly.”

Ten people are employed at the bar and two managers will be relocated to Carlisle and Birmingham.

Burnley Council leader Mark Townsend said: “It is extremely disappointing as we want to keep as buoyant a nightlife in that part of town as we possibly can.

“I hope someone comes along and takes over those premises soon.”

“I think drinking habits are changing and I heard a report the other day that youngsters are not drinking as much as they were a few years ago, which is obviously good for health reasons but not good for businesses.”

Brian Hobbs, chairman of Burnley Chamber of Trade, said although the news was disappointing he still felt Burnley had a thriving night-time economy.

He said: “I think the night-time economy, like other economies, is under pressure.

“But it still seems to be busy in Burnley town centre.

“I don’t think the closure of Lava Ignite has made much of a difference and I don’t see this doing either.

“Perhaps we are a little over-saturated. I think there is still a pretty good offer around the town.”