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Fans, artists, a local MP and industry body UK Music have backed a campaign to save the closure-threatened Leadmill music venue in Sheffield.

The venue, which opened in 1980 and has hosted artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, The Stone Roses and Oasis, faces closure after the building’s landlord supplied the venue operators with an eviction notice requiring them to quit the building next year.

Several Twitter accounts such as Kaiser Chiefs, The Pogues, Billy Bragg, Kendall Calling festival and comedian Nish Kumar have shown their support with the hashtag #WeCantLoseLeadmill.

UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has urged Sheffield City Council to work with the Leadmill’s operators, business leaders, the Sheffield City Region Music Board, the local community and music fans to save the 900-capacity venue.

A spokesperson for the venue said, “Since 1980, The Leadmill has spent millions of pounds on what was a derelict warehouse, transforming it into one of the U.K’s most respected venues, where countless acts from across the globe have performed over the years.”

A petition has been launched for the Asset of Community Value (ACV) status for the venue, which already has more than  1,000 signatures. Njoku-Goodwin has called on Sheffield City Council to give The Leadmill ACV status to help lift the immediate threat of closure.

He also said UK Music will support the charity Music Venue Trust (MVT), which is already working to save the venue.

MVT tweeted, “We call on the Council to immediately implement an Asset of Community Value status on the premises as the first step in ensuring the venue is initially protected from closure. MVT will be working to ensure that once protected from immediate threat, the long term future is secured.

“Once again, the issue of who owns the premises rises to front and centre of the campaign to protect, secure and improve the UK’s grassroots music venues.”

Njoku-Goodwin said, “The Leadmill is an irreplaceable part of the cultural fabric of Sheffield and the whole UK music scene. It has nurtured some of our world-leading acts and been at the heart of the city’s musical life for decades. It cannot be allowed to close.

“Losing The Leadmill would be a devastating blow to Sheffield and to the whole music industry – we must fight to save it.”

Local MP Louise Haigh said on Twitter that she will “fight all the way to save this historic Sheffield landmark”.

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