Last orders at the Charlotte

Music venue the Charlotte will shut its doors for the last time at the end of the month.

The

venue which has played host to acts including Oasis, Coldplay, Arctic

Monkeys and Leicester band Kasabian – has run out of cash.

Punch

Taverns, which owns the building, said its priority was to reopen the

venue "as soon as is feasibly possible" and appealed for "local

entrepreneurs" to get in touch.

Andy Wright, who has run the

venue for 20 years, began the process of liquidating its operating

company, The Princess Charlotte Public House Limited, this month.

Speaking to the Leicester Mercury yesterday Mr Wright said: "It will definitely be closing at the end of the month.

"That's when the company officially ceases to trade.

"Then it's up to Punch Taverns as to what it wants to do with it.

"I will be gone at the end of the month and it will be closed until further notice."

Bands

had pledged to help a campaign to save the Oxford Street venue, with

many acts saying they would be happy to play in a fund-raising gig.

Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan spoke exclusively to the Mercury to offer the band's support.

He said: "If we can help, we will. At the end of the day, it's a legendary venue."

Other Leicester bands, including The Displacements and The Screening, also offered to help.

A

Government petition set up to save the venue gathered almost 1,100

signatures, including that of Leicester South MP Sir Peter Soulsby.

More than 10,000 people joined internet campaign groups set up to support the venue.

Richard Haswell, manager of De Montfort Hall, said the closure was a "sad loss" for the city.

A spokesman for Punch Taverns said the company was committed to the Charlotte's future.