TV presenter and comedian Paul O’Grady has joined the campaign to get the world famous Black Cap pub in Camden Town re-opened as a gay bar.

The celebrity, known for his drag queen persona Lily Savage, lived in Camden Town in the 1980s and appeared countless times at the pub’s famous cabaret nights.

It has been closed since last April and the New Journal revealed last month that venue operators Ruth and Robinson Ltd are set to open a new bar in the Camden High Street building which will attempt to bring in customers from beyond the LGBT community. Plans for a bar with the name Hollenbeck’s are currently being assessed at the Town Hall.

Mr O’Grady told the New Journal: “The Black Cap should re-open as it was – a place for every­one to meet, a place for performances, and somewhere that honours its history.”

He was speaking as he prepares to talk about the latest instalment of his autobiography – Open the Cage, Murphy! – at Hampstead Theatre tomorrow (Friday) night.

The Black Cap’s demise followed a battle over whether previous owners Faucett Inn Ltd should be allowed to turn the upstairs bar and top floor into housing. Permission was not granted and the site was later sold, with the bar shut down amid protests in the streets from regulars.

Mr O’Grady said it would be “easy” for someone to run a winning business if they simply re-opened it as it was.

“It was a highly successful pub and was packed each night. I’d understand it if it wasn’t successful, but it was. It had that reputation for cabaret,” he said.

“It is bloody disgusting that anyone should want to use the Black Cap to build luxury flats in the first place. It is like every bloody square inch of London is becoming luxury flats, and for what? For rich overseas investors to have somewhere to stash their money, while our communities wither.”

Ruth and Robinson are planning to include a first floor bar and, according to a planning application, have “occasional live music and live acts”. It has been suggested it may have events called “Black Cap Nights”, recognising the pub’s heritage.

But this has not been enough for customers who have written to the council asking them not approve the changes.

Meanwhile, a charity has claimed the closure of the Black Cap has led to an increase in mental health problems among elderly and vulnerable members of Camden’s LGBT community.

Nigel Harris, the head of the Camden LGBT Forum, which success­fully applied for the Black Cap to be listed as an “asset of community value” last year, said: “A lot of our residents have stopped going out as a result of the closure of the Black Cap.

“I’ve had an increase in the number of people calling due to their mental health dete­riorating as a result, or being socially excluded, facing more extreme isolation. There were people who used the Black Cap as their home away from home to get away from neighbour­hood-based harassment. We’ve made many more referrals to mental health or third party charities that specialise in LGBT mental health.

“People tell us they had an escape and they don’t have that escape any more.”