A York LGBTQ venue has said it will close after City of York Council approved its bid to extend its opening hours.
Little J said in a Facebook post they were now open to offers to take on their lease on their Chapel House building in North Street following the decision.
Its owners said a request to notify North Yorkshire Police of events happening at the venue was unacceptable.
It comes after councillors approved the venue’s bid to extend its opening hours despite concerns from the police and council.
The venue, which can host up to 120 people and puts on events catering to the LGBTQ community, is thought to be the only one of its kind in North Yorkshire.
But the decision permitted Little J to open until 2am from Sunday to Wednesday despite it applying to extend its closing time to 3am on those days.
Its bid to extend its hours to 4am from Thursday to Saturday was approved.
The venue has been able to open until 11pm but said in its application it wanted to open later so LGBTQ people had somewhere safe to socialise at night.
Councillors put a number of conditions on their decision including requiring door staff, keeping an incident log and keeping a calendar of events.
The conditions required the venue to provide the calendar to the council and the police at least a month ahead of events taking place.
The venue said on Facebook its directors had resolved not to operate as Little J going forward.
It said: “Deeply disappointed by today’s licence decision.
“We worked really hard to present our best case, but the councillors ultimately failed to uphold the equity and equality they claim to promote.”
The owners added: “If any organisations or persons would like to take on a lease to operate an LGBTQI+ venue at Chapel House, please get in touch.”
It comes Leo Charalambides, a lawyer acting on the venue’s behalf, told councillors that accepting the venue’s application would show York welcomed queer people.
The lawyer said: “For such a major city not to have a late-night queer venue must be terribly embarrassing for York.”
But council solicitor Sandra Branigan said extending its hours would go against limits on venues in the area around Little J.
The area is already home to a number of late-night bars, nightclubs and takeaways.
Ms Branigan said: “We appreciate this venue’s needed, but evidence shows there are already concerns about other premises in the area which are having an adverse impact on residents and businesses.”
Paul Clark, of North Yorkshire Council, told the hearing they were sympathetic to the LGBTQ community’s desire for a late-night venue but they had concerns about how it would operate.
Mr Clark said: “York is a victim of its own success, we get so many people visiting and when alcohol goes in brains go out and people change their attitude.”
