THE owners of a Plymouth nightclub have accused the city council of a 'witch-hunt' after their request to extend trading hours this weekend was rejected.
Representatives from Angels Nightclub in Union Street met councillors and other advisers at the council chambers to discuss a one-off extension to be able to serve alcohol until 4am on Sunday.
The application rejection, based largely upon noise complaints, reports of violence and issues concerning fabricated signatures in a mandatory customer log-in book, did not surprise club promoter Danny Robinson and site leaseholder Stefan Williams, who blamed the decision upon mere 'accusations'.
And after the hearing Danny suggested he has found that a similar attitude is taken to all businesses in the same part of Union Street.
Speaking in the absence of licence holder Lewis Jackson, Danny said: "We're not surprised by this, not when you consider some of the stuff we've had to put up with in the past few weeks.
"Accusations about incidents that have supposedly gone on in the nightclub which haven't actually happened didn't help.
"It's been a bit of a witch-hunt since day one, to be honest.
"We've worked in nightclubs right across Plymouth and we've noticed that, working in venues along the lower end of Union Street, the council and police seem to object far harder.
"It seems to be that they're keen for that end of the town to fade away."
The licensing sub-committee, chaired by Cllr Eddie Rennie, heard evidence from Devon and Cornwall Police, Environmental Health and senior licensing officers who agreed extending trading hours this Sunday would "undermine public safety".
The question of Mr Jackson's ability to run the venue was also raised, as doubts were expressed regarding his apparent lack of licensing knowledge and premises conditions.
David McIndoe, representing the police at the meeting, said: "We have no confidence at all that Mr Jackson has any real authority within the management of the premises other than his legitimisation of the venue licence.
"He didn't seem to have much idea what his responsibilities were. Together with the two noise complaints that were received, it quickly became apparent that when we were talking to him, he didn't have a clue what the licence conditions were."
Cllr Lynda Bowyer, who was part of the committee, was also concerned for the safety of customers after it became apparent that the club log-in book, which requires visitors to sign their name and address, featured false signatures, including those of Disney characters.
"Somebody needs to be checking this book," she stated. "How do you even know who is in the premises? It would have helped if Lewis Jackson had been present at today's meeting to answer this question."
Cllr Rennie added: "Unless you've hosted some sort of Disney convention in the past few weeks and Donald Duck has walked through the door, let's be honest, these aren't the real names of your customers."
Despite being disappointed at the decision, promoter Danny confirmed the club would be open today and tomorrow this Friday and Saturday and would continue to trade despite "difficult circumstances".
"We can't open on Sunday, but we'll be trading every Friday and Saturday as normal," he said. "Looking on the positive, this was us asking for something extra, not the council taking stuff away."