CityLife

Blues pub Mitchell Arms faces the final whistle

The Mitchell Arms

AN EASTLANDS pub visited by hundreds of Manchester City fans each week could be closed down.

The Mitchell Arms in Ancoats has been put up for sale by owners Punch Taverns.

The watering hole, on Every Street, is a city centre meeting point for Blues fans on match days.

There are no immediate plans to shut the hostelry, but Punch has confirmed it will consider offers from all developers and ‘may explore other options’ when selling.

The Mitchell Arms is one of around 300 pubs across the country being sold by Punch Taverns, Britain’s largest pub group.The firm, which owns around 8,000 pubs, said in September it would be selling them to tackle debts of more than £3bn.

'Potential remains'

Many of the pubs are expected to remain as licensed premises, although a ‘significant number’ could be turned into housing or shops, the company said in the autumn.

A Punch spokesman said: “We can confirm that the Mitchell Arms is newly on the market. As a pub company it is always our priority to keep our pubs open and trading.

“However, we do review our estate regularly and may explore other options around the future of sites that might better fulfill their potential for the local community under different ownership.

“All of our sites are sold without restrictive covenants so potential remains for them to continue as pubs.

“The Mitchell Arms remains open for trade and we will ensure that our licensee is kept fully up to date on any developments.”

The landlord of the Mitchell Arms declined to comment.