THE man planning to refurbish and reopen York's Barbican Centre warned today he will abandon the £3 million scheme if he is refused a late licence.

Tony Knox, who estimates his company, Absolute Leisure, has already invested about £200,000 in preparing for the long-delayed project, said: "We would have to cut our losses and walk away from it. The late licence is absolutely essential to the economic viability of the whole scheme."

But he said that if the controversial licence to sell alcohol until 2am was agreed by a City of York Council licensing sub-committee, he would reopen the centre this autumn and stage the UK Snooker Tournament, Festival of Remembrance and Christmas Carol Concert before shutting it again for ten months for the redevelopment.

Mr Knox insisted that his customers would not be rowdy, nightclub-style lager louts. "It's not a nightclub. It won't be promoted as a nightclub."

He said the clientele at the proposed Coco Mos Italian restaurant and Lounge Bar would be primarily older, more sophisticated customers and families.

He claimed that many of the objections against the proposal had been orchestrated by a small group of activists wanting to do everything they could to block the Barbican's redevelopment.

This was strongly denied today by Maria Dodd, a leading campaigner against the late licence, who said: "All we did was talk to people to seek their views, and there is genuine concern in the area."

Mr Knox said that because the Barbican was outside York's main city centre, it had to be promoted as a destination in its own right to attract sufficient customers.

He said that running concerts in the auditorium would not in itself make any meaningful profits.

"We want to create a package for people visiting the Barbican. When they book tickets for a concert - and we intend to stage about two a week, twice the previous average - they will be asked if they would like to book a table for a meal, and whether they would like to book drinks."

Council leisure boss Charlie Croft will reveal the latest on the Barbican saga at a Fishergate ward meeting at 7.30pm tonight at St George's RC School.

:: More than 200 object

MORE than 200 "relevant" objections have been made to the Barbican late licence application, it emerged today.

Another 26 representations have been lodged, but will be ignored because the authors live too far away from the centre to be considered "interested parties".

Absolute Leisure's application will be considered at a City of York Council licensing sub-committee meeting next Monday, with councillors given four options by head of licensing Dick Haswell - rejection, full approval, and approval with two differing sets of conditions imposed.

Of the 203 objections - which are considered relevant because the writers live in the centre's vicinity - a large number are signed copies of a circular letter, claiming that the Barbican is in a residential area and is not the place for a late licence.

Updated: 10:14 Monday, July 04, 2005