Last orders are to be called for the final time at Bradford's best known live music pub.

Eamon Halloran and his wife Anita have been championing live music at The Melborn Hotel in White Abbey Road for 15 years.

But the couple will serve up pints for the last time on January 16 when it is sold.

"It seems like a very good time to go," said Mr Halloran. "I have very fond memories of the place and of the people of Bradford. I am sad to go but circumstances say it's time."

Mr Halloran said he did not know if the new owner will continue to use the Melborn as a pub.

"To the best of my knowledge it is not going to be a pub or music venue. I wish the new owners every success in their ventures with the Melborn," he said.

Mr Halloran, who also ran the pub from 1983 to 1986, has been the driving force behind the pub's reputation as a venue for live music.

"I have done it as much for love as for anything else. It's what I live to do," he said.

"I have had ups and downs. We have had riots in the city and many other things during the years. There have been good times and bad times but I have always loved the people of Bradford and got on very well with all the people.

"But it is time to go. I do not feel I can take it any further or make it any better than it is. The people have been wonderful."

Opened in 1935 by the now defunct Melbourne Brewery, the pub served the residents and mill-workers well into the decline of textile manufacturing in the 1960s.

When Mr Halloran, who sings and plays guitar, accordion and harmonica, took over for the first time in the 1980s, he set about recapturing a new clientele through his love of live music and good company.

"I don't run it as an Irish pub - I run it as a people's pub," he said. "And I think the people of Bradford are the most wonderful and talented people you will meet anywhere. I live to do live music and I encourage other people to do the same."

When he returned to the pub in 1990, there were occasional nights of live music. Since then he has built up the live entertainment and music five nights a week.

One of the pub's regulars, Michael Duane, who used to play guitar with The Wedding Present, has been a well-known face at the Melborn for years.

"My brother is ten years older than me and he first took me to the Melborn when I was about 15," said the 46-year-old musician, of Clayton.

"It's always been somewhere you can go and listen to music. There are always musical instruments there. It's just a great feeling. I have played there many times.

"Everyone is sad Eamon is leaving. It's like walking into a home when you are there and Eamon has made it that way.

"I was shocked when I found out it was going. It's another one of Bradford's landmarks disappearing."