Police fail to stop club's 3am Christmas opening

POLICE have failed in their bid to stop a nightclub staying open for longer over Christmas.

Fluid in Newcastle has been given permission to sell alcohol for an hour longer on 12 separate nights from now until the end of the year.

Members of Newcastle Borough Council's licensing sub-committee yesterday approved licensee Dave Wood's requests for nine temporary events notices.

The temporary licence extensions mean Fluid can serve alcohol until 3am on certain Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, starting from this Saturday.

That means the High Street club can serve alcohol longer than any other venue in the town.

But police fear the council's decision to grant the extension could lead to an increase in crime and disorder.

They have also raised concerns that manned CCTV coverage of the town centre stops at 3am, half an hour before Fluid will shut.

Michael Griffiths, head of legal services at Staffordshire Police, told the committee: "This premises is in a critical location for policing in the town centre.

"There is a reasonable chance that crime and disorder will increase if the venue is allowed to stay open for longer."

In the last 12 months, police have received reports of 53 incidents connected with Fluid, ranging from assaults to thefts.

And between June 2007 and May 2008, there were 313 violent incident reports in High Street.

Representing the nightclub at the meeting, Jonathan Smith, of Poppleston Allen Solicitors, said there was no evidence to suggest extra drinking time would spark more anti-social problems.

The club is planning to introduce polycarbonate drinks containers to stop glass bottles being used as weapons.

It has also linked up with a local taxi service to help clubbers get home safely.

Mr Smith said: "The main reason behind this application is that the venue has recently applied to permanently vary the existing licence until 3am on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, which the police have also objected to. This temporary extension over Christmas will allow us to see what effect the extra hour has on policing in the town centre.

"The late night scene in Newcastle is dead on its knees, with people instead choosing to go to Hanley, where some places have licences until 6am.

"Fluid enjoys a good relationship with the police and holds weekly telephone conversations to report any problems there might have been.

"We would be willing to cover the cost of keeping the CCTV cameras manned for the extra hour the club would be open."

Councillors said they were pleased with the taxi service and introduction of polycarbonate.