'Nobody dresses up to go out in Accrington'

And Mick Cookson, owner of banqueting suite Berkley Manor, Willow Street, Accrington, said a mistake by the licensing justices' office meant he had paid £250,000 for a building he wrongly believed had no licensing restrictions.

Mr Cookson, of Priory Court, Burnley, made a stinging attack on nightlife in the town and said plans to convert his premises into a new club and pub would give people somewhere up-market.

Hyndburn licensing justices granted him permission to convert the ground floor of the building into a pub called Panama Joe's with a normal pub licence.

An application to create an over-25s' cabaret club called China Black Moon on the upper floors was adjourned until June. Mr Cookson, who formerly owned Panama Joe's nightclub, Burnley, said that when he bought the premises 11 months ago he called the licensing justices' office in Blackburn and was told there were no licensing restrictions. He later found out that was a mistake by a temp worker.

"I asked the person three times and they said there were no restrictions," he said.

"Nobody dresses up to go out in Accrington because there is nothing worth dressing up for."

Sgt Brian Hopwood, licensing officer for Hyndburn, said Mr Cookson was depriving Accrington of its only purpose-built function room. But Mr Cookson said there was not enough demand to make the banqueting suite viable.

Representatives from nightclubs Churchills and the Arcade Bar were in court to object to plans, saying there were already enough licensed premises in the town centre. A letter from Lar-De-Dars nightclub, also in Willow Street, outlined objections to the nightclub application, which is set to be heard in June.

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