The popular  Wetherspoons pub The Flora Sandes will close,  The Chronicle can exclusively reveal.

The freehold owners Fort Properties Ltd, a  property letting company based in Scotland, are actively marketing the property and Wetherspoons could be out as soon as December.

A Wetherspoons spokesman said: “We have served the break option. The landlord is marketing not us. The break clause is May 2018. No closure dates yet.

Adding: “We appreciate that the pub’s loyal customers will be disappointed with the forthcoming closure, however, Wetherspoon has to make decisions that are right for the business and on occasion we do close pubs.”

There will be no staff redundancies as all of the pub’s staff will be relocated to other Wetherspoon pubs in the area.

The pub on the Ambassador House forecourt appears to always be busy and in addition to its regular clientele gets football fan footfall on CPFC match days.

The council is trying to ascertain the  reasons for the pub chain leaving  and whether it would be interested in other opportunities on the High Street but this seems unlikely to happen.

In  the last 18 months the number of empty shops has increased dramatically and there are now 17 vacant premises.

Last month the last bank, Barclays, announced it will close in December which will further fuel urgent calls to come up with a strategy to redevelop the 1960s eyesore. This would leave just two businesses on the forecourt House – Parthenon Fashions and Corals.

The Chronicle understands that earlier this year a company called Cherif Capital were trying to  finalise the acquisition of the building.  The director of this capital investment company is listed as Lord Beaverbrook and the company Secretary the Rt Hon Maxwell Aitken.

Elsewhere on the High Street The HSBC has remained empty since closing in July 2016 and is being auctioned on October 2 for a guide price of £440,000. The Thomas Farley pub has also sat empty since being purchased by a property developer. Hopes that it would be rejuvenated by pub chain Antic London ended when negotiations collapsed.