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Oxford's The Cellar music venue to get facelift

BBC The CellarBBC
The entrance to The Cellar is on Frewin Court, off Oxford's busy Cornmarket Street

Plans are under way to renovate a music venue in Oxford that was under threat of being redeveloped.

St Michael's and All Saints' Charities, the landlord of The Cellar, had submitted an application to redevelop the basement venue beneath a shop.

A petition to keep it open gathered more than 13,000 signatures and the application for the Frewin Court venue was officially withdrawn in October.

The Cellar said negotiating new lease terms would "commence in earnest".

Previously known as The Corn Dolly and The Dolly, The Cellar has been run by the Hopkins family since the 1980s.

Jack Bevan and Dave Bayley
Members of Foals and Glass Animals described the potential loss of The Cellar as "terrible"

Tim Hopkins said: "I look forward to booking up 2018 with confidence.

"The outpouring of public support has re-galvanised my ambitions for the venue, and I'm really excited to see what the future at The Cellar holds for all of us."

Renovations at the venue will concentrate on the lighting, sound system, floor, branding, and bars.

Several politicians and musicians sent messages of support to the venue during the campaign to keep it open, including Oxford bands such as Foals and Ride.

Dave Bayley, from the Mercury-shortlisted Glass Animals, said: "To see it turned into some retail outlet would be like beating the small heart of the Oxford music scene to a pulp with a premade sandwich."