Roads near former Leicester nightclub Krystals to close as venue prepares for demolition after fire

It is still unclear what caused the fire at the former nightclub in Leicester Credit: Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service

Roads in Leicester City Centre will close overnight tonight as one of the city's iconic nightclubs prepares for demolition.

Church Gate, Gravel Street and New Road, will all close from 11.45pm on Wednesday 19 October until 4am on Thursday 20 October - as demolition of the former nightclub Krystals begins.

The unused building in Gravel Street went up in flames in the early hours on October 4 and prompted the City Council to step in and remove parts of the unstable building.

The venue, which was also previously known as Blueprint Nightclub, Creation and Liquid/Envy, will be demolished over the next couple of weeks.

A fire at the unused nightclub left it unstable and needing demolition Credit: ITV News Central

Martin Fletcher, Director of City Highways and Leicester City Council, said they will try and keep "disruption to a minimum".

He said: "Unfortunately the scale of the demolition work being carried out at the old Krystals nightclub site means we have to bring in these temporary road closures to protect the public.

"We are working with the demolition firm to try to ensure they keep the disruption to a minimum, but this still involves some night working and some unavoidable road closures.

"The demolition also affects the routes to and from St Margaret’s Bus Station, meaning that a number of services will be diverted or will use different stops while these road closures are in place.

"Again, we’ve worked with the bus companies to ensure that people are aware if their buses are affected, with clear signposts on the affected stops and information on buses."

St Margaret’s Bus Station will remain open as normal, however, some bus services will be affected.

Parking restrictions are also in place for all road closures on the specified and timings below.

Firefighters in Leicester spent most of the day battling the fire earlier this month Credit: Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service

What are the road closures in Leicester?

  • Church Gate (11.45pm October 19 until 4am on October 20, 7:30am October 27 until 29th)

  • Gravel Street (11.45pm October 19 until 4am on October 20, 7:30am October 27 until 29th)

  • New Road (11.45pm October 19 until 4am on October 20, and all of the 24th until 28th)

These bus routes will be affected:

  • Skylink to move to bay SZ on October 19,24-19 during the hours New Road is closed

  • Arriva services will leave from different places from October 24 to 29.

  • Number 84, 85, X84 services to move to stand CA in Charles Street

  • 126/7 services will move to stand BF in Belgrave Gate

  • X6 buses will move to stand CJ

  • Vectare’s Novus Direct service will move to stand CA in Charles Street

  • The 152/3 will still run from St Margaret’s Bus Station but will not serve Causeway Lane.

Several roads closed after large fire in Leicester city centre