London Bridge Station could soon get a Wetherspoons if a proposal put forward by the pub chain goes through. A premises license application sent to Southwark Council yesterday (September 11) includes plans to operate in the vaults at 50 Tooley Street, just yards from the station’s entrance.
The pub would be called The Sun Wharf and open from 6.30am to 12.30pm every day except Sunday, when it would instead close at 11.30pm. The name is likely a reference to the many shipping quays that once lined the nearby Pool of London section of the River Thames.
Once home to the London Dungeon, the Tooley Street site has failed to find a permanent tenant since the tourist attraction moved to the South Bank in 2013. Network Rail, which owns the property, has reportedly struggled to fill the space due to the sorry state of the interior.
In a submission to Southwark Council in 2017, the rail company said: “The remaining premises provide a very poor quality environment. The previous user (London Dungeon) was somewhat unusual in that the poor quality environment was its main attraction.
“NR Commercial Property has been unable to identify other potential D2 occupiers willing to lease the remaining space in its current state.”
The application comes a week after Tim Martin’s chain unveiled The Lion & The Unicorn inside Waterloo Station. The pub serves the chain’s signature cheap food and drink from The Sidings shopping area within the Eurostar terminal following a £2.8m refurbishment.
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