A huge skip has appeared at the Leadmill as the operators carry out a threat to take it back to a “derelict flour mill.”

The skip will be there until August 14, a note states, the day the current business must be out.

It follows a three-year legal battle to stay which ended when director Phil Mills admitted defeat in May. The last public gig was on Friday June 27.

A huge skip has appeared on Leadmill Road as the nightclub operators prepare to move out. | mw

placeholder image — A huge skip has appeared on Leadmill Road as the nightclub operators prepare to move out. | mw

General manager Ian Lawlor said the building would be returned to the condition it was in when they arrived “as per our lease.”

He added: “As we've said from the beginning, we will be taking everything that belongs to us when we go.

“Anything that belongs to us that we don't need to take with us will be sold or go in the skip.”

The building was a derelict flour mill before opening as a community centre and music venue in 1980.

The skip will be in place until August 14, the day the Leadmill operators must be out. | nw

Speaking to The Star in 2022, Mr Lawlor said it was their intention to take everything “from the fixtures to the doors.”

He added: “The Leadmill will not continue – The Leadmill is us, the staff and all the fixtures. We'll take everything with us, because we own it - the fixtures, the equipment, the doors.

"When we leave it will be a derelict flour mill, and that’s what they will be left with.

"They'll have to start from scratch, it will take them a year to get it up and running.”

The Leadmill is advertising gigs at Sheffield venues including Foundry, Hallamshire Hotel, Network, Sidney and Matilda and The Steamworks. Some gigs state ‘venue to be confirmed’. | nw

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The eviction process started when London-based Electric Group bought the building in 2016.

It had expected to move in when the Leadmill operators’ 20-year lease expired in March 2023.

Electric Group bosses previously said they intended to refurbish the building and offer workers jobs at a new nightclub in the premises.

But the length of time it was closed depended on the condition it was left in, they said.

The Leadmill is advertising gigs at Sheffield venues including Foundry, Hallamshire Hotel, Network, Sidney and Matilda and The Steamworks. Some gigs state ‘venue to be confirmed’.