The closure of Chelmsford’s only LGBTQ+ bar will be “heartbreaking” for customers, especially those from the trans community

The closure of Bar Plus in Chelmsford – the city’s only LGBTQ+ bar – will be “heartbreaking” for customers, especially those from the trans community, its owner said.

The LGBTQ+ venue opened during Essex Pride earlier in 2024, but founder Kirsty Hebden-Lambird said a dispute with the bar’s landlord meant last orders would be called on New Year’s Eve.

Mrs Hebden-Lambird, who runs the bar with her wife Lilly, hoped to reopen at a new location but said it “might take some time”.

She said the past six months had been “a really wonderful time for the LGBTQ+ community” in the city.

Closing the venue could be particularly upsetting for the local trans community, Mrs Hebden-Lambird continued.

“We’ve so many of them that come here and can feel free to just be themselves.

“They’re even singing karaoke now and things. When they first turned up they could barely speak to anybody because they were so scared.

“It’s going to be heartbreaking, I think, for a lot of people, and it certainly is for Lilly and I who have put everything into this. It’s just too much to bear.”

She added that the nearest LGBTQ+ pub was more than 20 miles away in Southend-on-Sea.