CLUBBERS in Burnley are risking their lives by climbing onto a 12-feet high glass canopy to gain entry to a town centre venue.

According to bosses at Lava & Ignite, in Hammerton Street, drunken revellers are putting their own and fellow clubbers’ safety in jeopardy in a bid to avoid paying the entrance fee or after they have been refused entry.

In order to get into the venue, people are climbing 12-feet onto the glass canopy above the rear Lava door and over a wall, dropping eight feet into the terrace area.

Plans to increase the height of the club’s metal railings have now been submitted to Burnley Council to restrict access to the canopy.

Rachel Ainscough, deputy manager at the club, said almost doubling the height of the galvanised steel rails to two metres was a ‘precautionary measure.’ And in a statement of justification to the local authority, it says the changes were ‘necessary’ as the action ‘poses a great risk to the general public.’ Miss Ainscough said: “If they’re refused entry through the Ignite door because they are intoxicated or have been violent they can walk 50-feet to the rear door quite quickly.

“They shimmy up the drainpipe, onto the roof above the Lava door and over the wall into the outdoor terrace, which means they are then inside the club.

“We can see them doing it but if they are crafty and their friends are already inside they can obstruct our view.

“If they were to fall off the wall, it would be about an eight-feet drop onto a concrete floor and from the roof it would be 12-feet fall onto concrete steps, but there is also a metal bar there and the consequences could be lethal.”

The stone building, built in 1810, is Grade II Listed and operated as a working mill for over half a century.

The proposed gates will be fixed with masonry anchors, which will match the existing steel work in design and finish.