Iconic music venue The Star and Garter has been SAVED after new owners signed a 10-year-lease with landlord Andy Martin, the Manchester Evening News can reveal.

The future of the legendary pub on Fairfield Street in Manchester city centre has hung in the balance for more than a decade - but is now secure as part of plans to regenerate the area behind Piccadilly station.

The Mayfield Partnership - a joint venture made up of regeneration specialist U+I, Manchester council, Transport for Greater Manchester and LCR - has bought the 216-year-old, Grade II-listed building for an undisclosed sum, it has been confirmed.

Bosses say they are committed to keeping the Star as a music venue - for the long term.

As well as signing a new lease with Andy Martin, the Mayfield Partnership team has promised 'continued investment in refurbishment' and support for the creative programme for the venue, as well as providing additional facilities when required for larger touring acts.

"After almost 30 years of repeated false promises about the potential redevelopment of Mayfield, I’m relieved and more than satisfied that the Star and Garter, the venue described as the ‘Municipal Fortress of Vengeance’, or ‘The Temple of Doom’ and name checked in two Courteeners songs, is in safe hands and not destined to suffer the same fate as at least three other music venues in Manchester," said Mr Martin.

(Image: Mark Waugh Manchester Press Photography Ltd)

"The plans for Mayfield are incredible and long overdue.

"It’s the most exciting time for this part of the city that I can remember since the Commonwealth Games.

"Mayfield, London Road Fire Station and the plans by Manchester University to develop its campus means that over the next 10 years the Piccadilly/ Mayfield area will become the most improved and talked about place in Manchester city centre."

(Image: Mayfield Partnership)

It is a remarkable change of fortunes for Mr Martin and the Star, after years of rumour and false starts about the regeneration of Mayfield.

First opened in 1803, The Star and Garter Tavern - as it was then known - was originally built around 50 yards from where it currently stands and was forced to close in 1849 for the expansion of London Road Railway Station (later renamed Manchester Piccadilly).

The pub was taken down and rebuilt in its current location, brick by brick, before reopening in the 1877 as the Star and Garter Hotel.

After 110 years of serving punters, the pub first found itself in jeopardy when Mayfield Railway Station closed and owners Chester's Brewery put it up for sale.

For the last 28 years, it has been owned by Charlie Darlington and operated as a music venue in the belief the city council had plans to regenerat the area.

(Image: Mark Waugh Manchester Press Photography Ltd)

Many bands have played the venue over the decades including Status Quo, The Courteeners, Dougie Poynter, Half Man Half Biscuit, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, UK Subs, Subhumans, Bring Me The Horizon, Al Perkins, Corrosion of Conformity, Chuck Mosley and Arnocorps.

Its famous monthly ‘Morrissey Smiths Disco’ night continues to attract fans from around the world.

But uncertainty always clouded the Star's future.

In 2014, fans of long-running indie night Smile celebrated its 21st anniversary in the belief the venue was about to close for three years and was unlikely to return.

Mr Martin told the M.E.N at the time: "I’m no Apprentice contestant but Alan Sugar would say you can’t close a business for three years and expect it to open again like nothing happened."

But those plans never came to fruition and the Star has been limping on ever since.

Change has finally arrived with the forming of the Mayfield Partnership and financial backing for the regeneration of the area.

The £1.4bn project began in earnest this year when a planning application was submitted for a new, 6.5 acre park on the banks of the River Medlock, a 545-space car park and a nine-storey office building.

The wider Mayfield regeneration will potentially provide 1,500 homes, 155,000 sq m of office space, a 650-bedroom hotel, retail and leisure space.

Developers U+I said keeping a music and cultural offering at the heart of Mayfield has always been their intention.

Earlier this year, the old railway station was brought back to life as arts venue Depot Mayfield and it has already played host to a number of live event.

Around 20,000 people a week have attended gigs including Aphex Twin, Chase & Status and Four Tet, and the wider site played home to Ariana Grande on her return to Manchester during the city’s 2019 Pride Live Festival.

(Image: Mark Waugh Manchester Press Photography Ltd)

The deal to save the Star and Garter bucks a worrying trend of music venues closing, not just in Manchester but around the country.

In January 2018, industry body UK Music estimated that 35 per cent of venues across the country had closed in the preceding decade, while the following month the UK’s first ever music venue census found that a third of Britain’s small venues were struggling, with respondents saying property development and increased business rates were to blame for the squeeze.

Venues lost in Manchester over the past decade include The Roadhouse, Sankeys and The Ruby Lounge.

Richard Upton, Chief Development Officer at U+I, said: "Safeguarding this incredibly important piece of Manchester’s culture has been a long journey and we are so pleased to be able to offer certainty over its future for the many people who hold it dear.

"There have been many rumours about the future of the Star and Garter, but U+I has been committed from day one to ensure that the venue is not only saved, but is able to thrive.

(Image: Gary Brown)

"Culture, community and heritage are incredibly important to U+I and are central to our thoughtful and creative approach to regeneration. As neighbours for the past three years we have sought to be a supportive friend to the Star and Garter.

"As its owner, we can give this wonderful place the investment it deserves and we look forward to working with Andy to ensure its future remains at the heart of Manchester’s live music scene.

"The impact and importance of small independent venues to our cities can’t be over-estimated, which is why we felt we had to buy the building, which alongside Depot Mayfield, will keep Mayfield in the hearts and minds of Mancunians and provide a magnet for new visitors."

Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester’s Night-time Economy Adviser, said: "The Star and Garter is a true Manchester landmark and there would have been extreme disappointment from everyone who loves live music if it had closed.

"The international reputation Greater Manchester’s night-time economy has earned has been built on the hard work and passion of people like Andy Martin in places like the Star and Garter.

"The Star has been crying-out for certainty over the future and some TLC for ages, so it’s brilliant to hear that it’s going to be at the heart of the new Mayfield as it develops and that Andy is staying on to continue doing what he does so well .

"In the last few years we have seen many closures of live music venues across the whole of the UK, so I am really delighted that the Star and Garter is not going to be consigned to the history books."