Council to pay £25K after 'wrongly' shutting club

A council has been ordered to pay record costs of £25,000 after a judge ruled it was too quick to close down a nightclub.

V2 in Ruthin, North Wales, had its licence revoked in July after 'failing to adhere to strict licensing laws' following complaints by residents and an incident in June.

Chester law firm Hillyer McKeown successfully fought the decision on behalf of club owner's Birch House Business Centre.

District Judge Shaw, found that Denbighshire Council's decision to revoke V2's licence could not be supported and was wrong. The Judge added that police were too quick to ask for the club's licence to be revoked.

He said police had misrepresented the strength of evidence against the club and had failed to provide incident logs until just three days before the appeal hearing.

Lisa Benskin ofHillyer McKeown said: "I am extremely happy that Birch House Business Centre, as owners of V2, have been vindicated as a result of the judgment of District Judge Shaw.

A council spokeswoman said: "We're delighted at the award of substantial costs against the Council in light of their failure to scrutinise the evidence in this matter which could have avoided the revocation of the Licence and the appeal altogether."

Two appeals were lodged against Denbighshire's licensing sub-committee decisions to revoke the licence of V2 nightclub in Ruthin. These appeals were allowed on 2 November 2010, with immediate effect. Conditions were added to the licence to allow the premises to trade. In light of the reversal of the judgment, Denbighshire County Council will continue to work with the owners of the nightclub."