The Ale House would be opened in a former charity shop opposite the Town Hall Pic: Richard Swan

A “continuous beer festival” is what one entrepreneur wants to create in a listed building in Preston city centre.

Gary Quinn has applied to permission to convert 56 Lancaster Road, opposite the Town Hall, into a new ale bar.

The Guild Ale House would serve specialist beers and ales sourced from the micro-breweries of the North West.

Mr Quinn says in a statement to Preston City Council’s planning department: “The Guild Ale House is a speciality small scale public house located in the centre of Preston.

“The Guild Ale House will be serving the people of Preston and the surrounding areas a wide selection of local ales and unique micobrews, a selection of continental lagers and a selection of craft beers from around the world.

“For the non beer drinkers it will also stock a selection of fine wines and soft drinks.

“It will be bringing back the good old fashion art of conversation along with traditional pub past times in a friendly local environment.

“The north west of England boasts a huge number of micro-breweries many of which are not readily available in the city centre due to the number of tied houses.

“Being a totally free house this is where The Guild Ale House has a distinct advantage. As I will be working and interacting with the customers I can quickly and easily change the selection of beers to accommodate the customer preference.

“In addition to a lot of production in the area, enjoying fine beer is a culture within itself in the Preston district with an extremely keen CAMRA group as well as a passionate crowd of beer festival followers. The Guild Ale House will be like a continuous beer festival.”

The building in Lancaster House is currently a vacant shop unit, last used as a charity shop, and is owned by the city council.

Mr Quinn has applied for opening hours of 11am to midnight Sunday to Thursday and 11am to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The shop is part of a grade-II listed row of shops and architects plans show how the Ale House would undertake a “like for like restoration of the ground floor windows.”

A statement from Lancashire Police’s architectural liaison officer says the premises must be fitted with CCTV.

It would be the second opening in the Lancaster Road stretch of shops following the plans for the Ham and Jam coffee shop.

The full plans are available to view on the city council website.

Anyone wishing to comment on the plans can do so via the council website or by emailing [email protected] by Sunday 10 May quoting reference 06/2015/0252

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