Club should be allowed to operate

The club is not in a residential area being over a second hand furniture store, opposite a car park with a scrap metal merchants at the top of the street.

They run a very tight ship employing licensed and registered door staff and I understand that they have never had any trouble leading to a police visit.

That cannot be said for many establishments in the town centre where it often looks like a war zone on a Saturday night, especially on Warwick Street.

They, on the other hand, are located in the south of the town, and do not open until most other businesses have been long closed for the night.

I understand they have operated for three trouble free years and now find themselves being put out of business because the Government has moved the goal posts and changed all the rules. How are they supposed to feel after they have invested tens of thousand pounds in a full refurbishment and a long term lease only to have the rules changed. The change in the rules, in my opinion, should only be applied to new applicants and not imposed retrospectively on existing businesses.

I note in your article that the licence cannot be considered on the religious or moral grounds, which is clearly what the mayor is doing. People still have the freedom of speech in this country and the right to chose how they wish to spend an evening.

I hope the licensing committee see sense with this application. - Matt Kendrick, via email.