Liquid still flowing

Liquid Nightclub on North Road has faced a barrage of criticism from police who last week tried to persuade councillors on the licensing committee that they should not renew the club's public entertainment licence.

If this happened, the £1.5 million nightclub in the former Waring & Gillow building would have to close down.

But on Friday, representatives and staff of Liquid said that they were still fixing "teething troubles" and that the former manager was facing disciplinary action.

Liquid's solicitor, Jeremy Allen, explained: "The premises received full planning consent and a public entertainment licence from the council who knew the defects of the location, the layout of the premises, the width of the pavement and that there were other clubs in the area.

"The council should think carefully about refusing the licence. I am not suggesting that it is perfectly run , these premises are new and inevitably there are teething problems. I accept that the attitude of the former manager was unhelpful and as a company we can only apologise for that."

The committee heard that since Liquid opened 12 months ago there had been 198,000 customers through the doors and that there had only been violent incidents on 22 nights in the year.

Mr Allen added: "There have been a small minority of nights where there have been problems but for the vast majority of the time there are a large number of young people who go to Liquid to enjoy themselves."

The new manager at the club, Mr Richard Taylor, said he was stunned when he heard that the police were objecting to the renewal of the public entertainment licence and the company's regional manager, Mr James, said this was the first time he had experienced a situation like this.

"We're very happy to work with the police to resolve this situation as best we can," he said.

The special licensing committee was adjourned until February 8, when councillors will decide what action to take.