Lifeline for club stripped of licence
A NIGHTCLUB which was closed after it became ‘a drain’ on police resources has been given a lifeline.
The Manchester Lounge was temporarily stripped of its licence in January after a fight involving up to 25 people including some who had been in the venue - erupted outside.
Men were seen to use their belts as weapons outside the Withy Grove bar, a licensing panel was told. During a spot check at the city centre club on a different date in January, a man was let into the club by door staff, despite being so drunk he was ‘unable to keep his eyes open,’ licensing documents revealed.
Greater Manchester Police had called for the club to be permanently closed at the council’s full licensing hearing, saying they had serious concerns about the way the venue was run.
But councillors agreed to give club bosses a chance - providing they roll out a training programme for staff and implement stricter rules, which include shorter operating hours, in the next 21 days. A spokesman for The Manchester Lounge said they were happy the bar’s licence had not been revoked, and ‘welcomed the extra time given to put extra measures in place.’
The suspension will give the club time to train its staff on NiteNet - the city centre-wide radio system – as well as review its drug search policy.
The initial suspension came after the brawl in the street at the beginning of the year in which bosses were accused of failing to intervene.
Councillors heard that staff closed the venue’s shutters, but did not call the police, and the doormen did not try to stop the fight.
Pc Alan Isherwood said: “To allow people to be physically attacked and not do anything is not acceptable.”
He also laid out some 25 other incidents over the past year either at or outside the club, saying that the venue had become a ‘drain’ on GMP’s resources.
The club’s lawyer, Anthony Horne, disputed the club’s responsibility for a number of the incidents, arguing that many shown to the panel occurred on streets outside the club, often after the venue had closed.