A WORKING men’s club in York is set to close after being bought by a property developer.

Members of Tramways Club in Mill Street were told at the weekend that the club would be sold to Wetherby-based Oakgate Group.

The move follows a recent vote by the club’s members, and Oakgate has confirmed the site is going to be redeveloped, but could not specify exactly what form this redevelopment would take at this point.

Sheila Ali, president of Tramways, said: “It’s hugely sad that we have had to sell the site but the committee has followed the direction of the clubs members through this long term evaluation process.

“We would like to thank all the previous and current members for their long-standing support of the club and also Oakgate Group for their incredible assistance over the last couple of months.”

Further details of plans for this site are expected to be released in coming months following ongoing consultation with the relevant officers at City of York Council and around the local community.

The club is thought to have about 370 members, and Susan Butterworth, club secretary, said more than 75 per cent of members who turned out to vote at a recent meeting over the club’s future, voted for it to be sold, and the venue will close its doors for the final time on November 30.

She said: “It’s very sad. There are a lot of us who have been going in there for a lot of years, but you can only follow what the members vote for. You have to follow what the majority of the people who have shares in the club want to do.

“It’s safe to say we have something planned for the final night, but I can’t say exactly what. Something of a final night party, which we will put across to the members as soon as possible.”

Susan said the club’s AGM would be held in coming months to update members, but would require a venue which had not yet been determined.

She said: “It’s the first AGM we’ve had to hold outside the club. It’s the end of an era. Definitely the end of an era, extremely sad and a lot of us are quite sad that it’s closing.”

Oakgate - which is also carrying out the transformation of Stonebow House into a mixed-use development - and is also promoting a new garden village settlement in the City’s Local Plan.

Richard France, managing director of Oakgate, said: “This is a unique brownfield site within the city walls which, when redeveloped, will complement the regeneration of the Castle Gateway area down Piccadilly.”

As previously reported, the New York Club & Institute in Blossom Street is set to close in January after 90 years.

The club was founded in 1920, when 100 men who worked on York’s long defunct tramways decided it was time they needed a social club.

They each contributed a pound, and used the capital to found the club in a room at the Fulford tram depot. Membership was later extended beyond tramways employees, but the name stuck.

The club moved to a new purpose-built headquarters in Fishergate, but moved again in 1964 to Mill Street.