One of Birmingham’s favourite galleries closed last weekend with a live unplugged performance by rock band Sad Café.

Number Nine The Gallery, owned by entrepreneur Lee Benson, was a favourite among Birmingham’s business community.

It provided a shop window for a vast array of artists covering a variety of disciplines from traditional water colours, rock art and photography to forge work and ceramics.

Since it opened in 1999, it had also been the venue for some of the city’s best musical entertainment with a host of high-profile acts performing in the unique surroundings of the modern gallery.

There had been rumours of the venue’s demise for some time but trading problems and a slump in the art-buying market forced Mr Benson to make the difficult decision to finally close.

He said: “We nearly made 14 years. I am absolutely gutted.''