Community campaigners are being given a chance to buy a fire-damaged York pub which has stood empty for years.

Developer Tri-Core, which owns The Jubilee on Balfour Street, and which has applied several times for permission to convert all or part of the building into flats, has now invited the Jubilee Community Pub group to make an offer for the building.

The move comes after Tri-Core’s latest bid to get planning permission was rejected last month.

The proposals would have seen the top floor and part of the first floor of the pub turned into three flats, with the ground floor left as a pub. There would also have been a function room on part of the first floor.

But the application was rejected despite planning officers recommending it should be approved.

The Jubilee Community Pub group, who want to bring the building back into use as a pub, subsequently wrote to Tri-Core offering to buy the building.

Tri-Core director Dominic Woodward has now confirmed that he has invited the group to make an offer. But he warned that if a sale could not be agreed, he would appeal against the latest planning refusal.

He said: “We have been approached by the (Jubilee Community Pub group) to open discussions about a sale of the Jubilee to them.

“I have invited them to offer on the building and offered to help them with funding via the Community Ownership Fund, which opens in June and which means they will be able to get 50 per cent matched funding towards any purchase. I have made it clear to them (however) that we have six months to lodge our appeal . Given we feel we have a strong argument at appeal ,should a sale not be forthcoming we will look to trigger that appeal.”

Lizzy Whynes of the community pub group welcomed Tri-Core’s offer. “We will discuss it in detail at our next meeting,” she said. “We are feeling positive about realising the huge potential of The Jubilee to serve our community and we hope to continue a positive dialogue with Tri-Core moving forward.”

Ward councillor Kallum Taylor, who has supported the community group’s move to save the pub, welcomed the development. “It’s really positive to see the community group be true to their word and 'walk the walk' with a meaningful approach to Tri-Core on purchasing The Jubilee,” he said.

“Equally, it’s encouraging that Tri-Core have responded with a willingness to sell. For everyone’s sake the sorry saga of the last few years needs bringing to an end. This special building needs to serve the community it was built to serve, and I really hope that the subsequent negotiations are both positive and reasonable.”

The Jubilee, which originally opened in 1897 and was named for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, has stood empty and boarded up since 2016. It was declared an 'asset of community value' in 2016, but since then Tri-Core has applied several times for permission to convert part or all of the building into flats.

Locals say the empty pub, which was partly damaged by fire on March 13, has become a magnet for troublemakers.