According to the Birmingham Mail, the Birmingham venue where Black Sabbath played their first gig is being sold.

Admiral Taverns has sold The Crown - at the corner of Station Street and Hill Street - to a Japanese company for a rumoured £1.2 million, and licensee Colleen Andrews, who has has been told to leave by June 22, believes its history could be lost forever.

“I can’t understand why Birmingham City Council is allowing this to happen to our heritage,” she says.

“This pub is the city’s equivalent of The Cavern in Liverpool, where The Beatles started out.

“It could have become a great live music venue again, and a wonderful rock museum. Everyone from The Who to Duran Duran, Thin Lizzy and The Move have played here. On the wall are the words Jim, The Doors.

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi warns that Birmingham risks losing an important part of its heritage.

“The Crown was hugely important to the Black Sabbath story,” he says. “It was where we cut our musical teeth as a blues band.

"We’d be playing 12-bar blues along with the many other groups who played there, and starting to develop our own identity.

“We had some great times there, and made many good friends. The groups would swap ideas and sit in on each other’s sets. It was where the sound of the Brum Beat scene was honed, and the start of Black Sabbath’s career.

"The Crown is also one of the grand old buildings of Birmingham. It may have seen better days, but I would have thought it was important for the city to preserve the heritage that is all too quickly disappearing from our streets.

“It is a matter of concern, too, that music pubs are getting thin on the ground. Back in the 60s and 70s these were the places where today’s big groups started out. Where are the opportunities for new bands to get their act together?”

Read more at Birmingham Mail.