A FORMER working men's club is to be turned into eight houses.

York Promenade Working Men's Club (WMC), in St Benedict Road, closed in January 2005 following a bitter legal battle with property developer John Guildford. It was demolished later that year.

Mr Guildford later sold the site to Moorside Developments Ltd and plans have now been approved by City of York Council's planning department to build eight town houses on the site, which is off Nunnery Lane.

The plans are the latest for developments on the sites of former working men's clubs.

Only yesterday, The Press reported how plans have been submitted for eight apartments and four houses on the site of the former Groves WMC - prompting fears of the "death of the working men's club".

A former trustee of the Promenade WMC, Maurice Bridge, said it was sad the club closed - but it was progress.

Mr Bridge said: "Working men's clubs are closing down all the time and they are a thing of the past, unfortunately.

"It's a shame that there is such a long history, but it's gone and there's nothing we can do about it."

Ward councillor Sandy Fraser said he expressed concern about the loss of a public amenity when the planning application was made.

Coun Fraser said: "I attended as the ward councillors and expressed the view that residents were concerned about the loss of a local amenity because the club was used by the local community, not just as a club but as a meeting place."

The fate of the club was the subject of a long legal battle.

Faced with massive debts the club borrowed £100,000 from property developer Mr Guildford, and he sought planning permission to demolish the club, replace it with a smaller version and also build 18 flats on the site. But the partnership broke down when planning consent could only be obtained for a scaled-down version of the scheme, with ten flats.

Club members rejected the scheme when told it would not be financially viable to provide accommodation for a club steward.

The club failed to repay the £100,000 loan, and a clause in the contract allowed Mr Guildford to buy the property for a further £80,000.

A legal battle ensued, which ended with the club's trustees being forced to pay thousands of pounds out of their own pockets.