Chichester nightclub to stay open - but changes will be made

The 25-year-old nightclub will be closed for 14 days to allow the appointment of new staff and the installation of CCTV inside and outside the Oving premises.

A meeting of the district’s licensing and gambling acts sub-committee had been called to consider a police request for a review of the club’s premises licence - the first review to take place in the district.

It was told at the start of the hearing that the police and owners William Hardwicke 2000 Ltd had reached agreement on proposed conditions.

And after a 45-minute adjournment to allow the two sides to ‘fine tune’ the details, councillors agreed to accept the proposals.

Alcohol sales will have to finish at 2.30am, instead of the current 3.30am, and the premises will close at 3.30am instead of 4.30am.

Conditions will include a stipulation that a bus service taking customers to Chichester will not run after 3am.

Peter Savill, counsel for the police, said they had a catalogue of incidents of crime, disorder and public nuisance which showed the licensing objectives were being undermined.

Chichester police commander Chief Inspector Alistair Darge told the

sub-committee: “We will not tolerate further instances of violence and drunkenness, and if we find further instances occurring I will bring this back to you for a further review.”

James Anderson, representing the owners, said the review had been something of a wake-up call for his clients.