A TOWN centre pub has closed because of problems with its heating system.

The Music Factory, formerly Pitchers Bar, in Salford, Blackburn, suffered problems with flooding when heating was turned on and pipes froze in the winter, former tenant Jimmy Jenga said.

Mr Jenga, of Boomtown Production, ran the hardcore venue with business partner DJ Shack before it shut shortly before Christmas.

Now Chester-based Admiral Taverns, which owns Pitchers, has put it up for sale and the site is boarded up.

Mr Jenga said: “The brewery has locked it up following some problems with the heating and pipes.

“Trade was nothing remarkable, but it was okay. It was generating some income and not losing money.

“I was disappointed in some respects but in others I wasn’t, because it was not the type of music we wanted to do.

“It is a shame but it means we can concentrate on other venues.”

Mr Jenga said he and DJ Shack would concentrate on their other DJ nights at Jazzy Keks, off Barbara Castle Way, and 41 King Street.

Neal Barnes, business development manager from Admiral Taverns, declined to comment when asked about the Music Factory.

However, the firm’s website lists the bar, labelled as Pitchers, as up for sale with offers invited for a freehold tenancy.

The former Pitchers site is merely the latest pub to close in the area.

In 2009, brewery Thwaites put eight of its establishments up for sale with contracts meaning they could not be bought and reopened as pubs.

The British Beer and Pub Association has estimated that 52 pubs a week are closing across the country.