A JAZZ club in the heart of York has gone on the market after magistrates were asked to revoke its licence.

Inside the Cells jazz club, York

The Cells, in Parliament Street, the only venue dedicated to jazz in the city, has gone on sale with a price tag of £100,000.

But owner Kim Bayley hopes plans to transform it into an alcohol-free restaurant with music at its centre will be so successful she could avoid the sale.

She said: "I started doing jazz in 1996 in this bar and it was such a nice place and really busy because it was unique in York, but recently it has become a bit of a late-night drinking hole.

"I was off work ill at the time that happened, but I can't plead innocence because I was still responsible for the place. I decided to put it on the market a few weeks ago because the attempts to revoke the licence, as well as other strains of the business, were grinding me down."

PC Alan Sunderland, a York police licensing officer, said a revocation order was being sought because the premises were deemed to be ill-conducted.

Mrs Bayley claims she has now decided to surrender her licence and work on changing the club's image.

She said: "It is on the market and if I get a good offer then I will probably take it."But I really want to keep it going as a jazz club. I am determined to just concentrate on food and music and, if that proves successful, then I think I will be very tempted to keep it going."

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