"IT'S like being a welterweights fighting in a heavyweight division," explains Mark Harding, who can't quite believe how Lancaster has changed over the last couple of years.

"Luckily at the Warehouse we can punch above our weight - but it's tough."

After a spirit-sapping battle against officialdom to open his very own nightclub, Mark has watched bewildered as the "big boys" strolled into town.

New super pubs with a "stack it high - sell it cheap" philosophy have completely changed the face of the city's nightlife and their growing appetite for late licences could spell disaster for the smaller independents.

" I closed a successful cafe bar because the Shipley report came out which basically said you had to choose between being a pub or a club," said Mark. "I was happy to operate solely as a nightclub but there are pubs that are open all day who are now going for licences to stay open all night. Why would anyone pay to get into a club when they can stay in the pub till late for nothing? This goes against the new law but the authorities appear to have taken no action.

It's a free for all at the moment."

And as late-night violence in the city increases, Mark shares the growing concern of many local licensees.

"It's not a licensee's job to get people totally drunk. In fact, it's illegal to serve someone who's obviously had too much but some of these new pubs have promotions which go against the spirit of being a licensee. The ridiculous prices and promotions seem to be about getting the punters legless. We all know what sort of problems that leads to."

At the Warehouse there's a special emphasis on dancing and enjoying a relaxed social scene. The club uses young local DJs alongside resident DJs and has recently undergone a complete refit.

"We've got to change to survive and I'm very happy with the club's funky new look. There's a new entrance, a new dress code (sorry, no tracksuits) an upgraded light and sound system and we're trying to keep it all local and community based. Lancaster needs its independents or the city will be at the mercy of the big boys who have no real affinity to the area."

Check out the new-look Warehouse this weekend.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.