Residents object to plans to convert former Yankees restaurant on Sheffield’s Ecclesall Road into late night bar

Coffee shop Lounge 418, in the former Yankees building on Ecclesall Road, wants to become a bar with a flat above.

But 13 residents have objected to the licensing board about its plans to serve alcohol until 1am and close at 1.30am, seven days a week.

Residents, including young families and elderly people, say they are already disturbed by music, taxis and loud customers leaving pubs at 11pm but a bar open until the early hours would be too much.

A Dover Road resident called the closing times “absurd” and said: “There are already 10 bars in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens and Marks and Spencer, with houses running all the way to and beyond Collegiate Crescent. That is enough.

“There are local pubs like the Porter Brook that are family-friendly and the two real ale pubs are very popular and are run by locals. This is what the community needs and profits from.”

A resident of the Groves, a cluster of residential roads, said: “We already experience significant late night noise from Ecclesall Road when people walk home and this is already a cause of concern for people living on the lower parts of Southgrove and Broomgrove Road as well as for residents on Ecclesall Road itself.

“A late night drinks license would establish this part of Ecclesall Road as a place to go to after normal pubs close and would invariably attract people already worse for wear and unlikely to be capable of considerate behaviour.

“It would give our local student population the impression their late night noise behaviour is normal.”

Another resident said: “The operating hours requested are anti-social and not compatible with the residential nature of the surrounding area.

“We fear customers who would have been drinking for several hours would be spilling out into the neighbourhood and creating various kinds of nuisance.

“Should this application be allowed, we fear many other businesses would seek to match the extended operating hours, making this area a destination for late drinking. This kind of establishment is suited only to a city centre location.”

Lounge 418 says customers will be encouraged by staff to leave quietly and respect residents with plans to close the outdoor terrace at 9pm.

But environmental health officer Jonathan Round is concerned about the potential for noise breaking out of the premises and transmitting through the structure, as well as noise from people outside.

“While it would make sense to close the bifold doors to the front in the later evening, the entrance door/exit has no acoustic lobby.

“This will severely restrict the building’s ability to retain sound, and I would advise that the introduction of a lobby to the main entrance on the corner is considered to minimise the breakout of music.”

The licensing board will consider the application, which can be viewed here