Plymouth nightclub bosses anger after licence 'unfairly' torn up

A Plymouth city centre nightclub is to appeal against what it sees as an “unfair” decision to revoke its licence. Club Inferno has become the first nightspot in 11 years to have its licence torn up, after neighbours complained about noise, “chaos” and bad behaviour from clubbers.

But the Lockyer Street club has reacted by saying it feels it is being forced out after Plymouth City Council “mistakenly” gave permission for the former Plymouth Chamber of Commerce offices, two doors away, to be turned into flats. Club Inferno bosses have started a petition, already signed by more than 100 people, which is calling for it to have a “fair chance” to work with neighbours and find a solution.

Club Inferno is working on an appeal and called the revocation decision “unfair”. A spokesperson for the club said: “Despite our significant efforts and financial investments - including expensive soundproofing, additional staff, a noise limiter, and regular decibel testing to ensure levels remain under 50 decibels - the council has insisted on an impossible standard of zero decibels outside.”

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The spokesperson said that a nightclub had operated from the building for more than 50 years and that since taking over the premises in 2021, Club Inferno had “spent two years renovating, pouring all our savings into the project, borrowing from family, and even selling personal assets to create a compliant and thriving space”. The spokesperson said that neighbouring buildings had not been soundproofed and remained single glazed and accused the council of not addressing “the bigger picture”.

Club Inferno is in a Grade II listed building, across the road from the Theatre Royal car park, which once housed the clubs The Factory and, before that, Zeros. In February 2022 it was announced that Club Inferno would replace The Factory .

But in February 2023 PlymouthLive reported how some residents who had bought properties on Lockyer Street within the previous 12 months - in offices refurbished as residential properties - claimed they had not been told the club would reopen when they purchased their homes.

The Club Inferno spokesperson said: “We believe this stems from a mistake by the council in allowing residential development next to a long-established nightclub, and they are unfairly trying to push us out as a result. We will be appealing this case and asking Plymouth residents to support us by signing the petition to keep this vital venue open.”

The petition, on change.org, says the club has “rich cultural footprints” and contributes towards “local business dynamics” and is simply “too important to lose”. It said the club employs “dozens” of people and acts as a “tourism magnet”.

It said: “While respect for local residents' peace is important, revoking the club's licence seems like a disproportionately harsh measure. Instead, we should try to have an open dialogue between Inferno Club and the concerned residents to identify agreeable solutions.

“Could we, for example, implement strictly enforced noise curfews or better soundproofing solutions within the club? This petition seeks the guarantee of a fair chance for Club Inferno to work together with its neighbours to find a mutually beneficial resolution that doesn't sacrifice our cultural capital.”

Club Inferno, which re-opened in March last year, had been at the centre of complaints that its music was so loud it was keeping people awake at night with clubbers “screaming, shouting, crying, arguing, vomiting” and leaving rubbish and smashed bottles lying around. Nearby residents complained the din was having a detrimental effect on their physical and mental health.

The council said that despite several attempts to work with the club during the past 18 months, there were ongoing breaches of licence conditions. This led to the 380-capacity club being hauled before Plymouth City Council’s licensing subcommittee in September and again this month.

The committee heard the club had been given advice on how to comply with conditions and an opportunity to demonstrate it could abide by them - but had failed to do so. Police licensing officers found multiple breaches of the licence when they attended a medical emergency at the club.

At this month’s hearing, the committee found the licensing objectives of “prevention of public nuisance” and “prevention of crime and disorder” had been significantly undermined by the club. The committee found there was no reasonable explanation by the licence holders for repeated failures and revoked the licence last week.

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