Wetherspoon closing popular pub after 30 years as locals say 'it will be missed'

Wetherspoon is closing one of its pubs after 30 years - leaving punters devastated. The Grey Friar in Preston, which opened in the 1990s, has been put up for sale.

The pub will remain open and operating as a Wetherspoon until it is sold. A spokesperson told The Sun that staff will be offered jobs at other establishments.

For locals, their next nearest Wetherspoon is the Twelve Tellers on Church Street, which is also located in the city centre - however, that hasn't stopped some people being upset by the closure of The Grey Friar.

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One wrote on social media: "Happy memories starting our Friday nights in Greyfriars… it will be missed!!" Another said: "Good pre pint location for local away games. Especially when it's a 1230 kick off as you can get some breakfast/pint pre train."

A third person commented: "Oh my goodness! Me and my bf often start an evening out in here, have tea and move on from here into town." Another wrote: "Disappointing!"

It comes after Wetherspoon opened a new pub at a Haven holiday park in May this year. The Red Rocks is located in Haven’s Devon Cliffs site at Exmouth and can pack in nearly 700 punters - making it one of Wetherspoons’ biggest pubs by capacity.

It expects to dish out up to 1,500 pints on busy days, rising to 2,000 pints on a peak Saturday. The site is the fifth pub on a Haven holiday park, with more expected to follow. Wetherspoon has just under 800 pubs across the UK

Meanwhile, in its latest financial update earlier this year, Wetherspoon reported its like-for-like sales were up 5.6% in the 13 weeks to April 27. Comparable sales rose 5.1% overall in the group’s year-to-date.

Chairman Tim Martin said: “Bearing in mind that recent trading has been helped by favourable weather, the company anticipates a reasonable outcome for the financial year, notwithstanding previously reported wage and tax increases of approximately £1.2 million per week.”

The group opened two new pubs in the year so far with plans to open up to another five pubs, with around a further 10 due in the new financial year.

Wetherspoon had previously warned its labour costs will jump by £60million from April after increases in employers’ national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.

The rate of National Insurance paid by firms rose from 13.8% to 15% while the earnings threshold for when employers start paying National Insurance was lowered from £9,100 per year to £5,000. The minimum wage for people aged 21 and over was increased to £12.21 in April, up from £11.44.