THE owner of a nightclub described as the most violent in Sussex has decided to give up the fight to remain open.

Yvonne Newton-Turner decided to shut The Trek's doors in Seaford permanently ahead of a full review hearing next week, after believing she stood little chance of keeping the club open.

Sussex Police successfully applied to Lewes District Council to temporarily suspend the venue’s licence in September, while the 65-year-old and her husband Julian were away on holiday in Italy.

Mrs Newton-Turner said: “I surrendered the premises license of the Trek Nightclub. It was clear to me that without police support the continuation of the operation of the club would be impossible.”

Police listed 13 incidents in their appeal to close the venue in Blatchington Road, Seaford with one officer describing it as “like a scene from the wild west” after the most serious attack.

Police said two members of door staff were assaulted, one left with a fractured eye socket and bleeding on his retina, after two men were thrown out of the club and there was also a fight involving what witnesses described as 50 people in the street.

In the most recent incident a clubber was knocked unconscious in Broad Street – two minutes away - and police said it involved people who had been at the Trek.

The club has been directly linked to four incidents of grievous bodily harm, three of actual bodily harm and fiver further assaults.

Mrs Newton-Turner, who has run the club for 31 years, is now considering selling the land to developers for housing. She said: “At the moment we are considering all our options and hope that we can find a suitable use for the site that everyone will be happy with.

“I would like to thank all the police who have in the past supported the club, all my neighbours, all my customers and of course all the people who have worked with me over 31 years.”

The owner warned the closure of Trek will have a devastating effect on the pubs and bars that relied on the club's trade. “I do hope that the closure of the club will not have too much of a damaging effect on the other licensed premises and wish them all a very prosperous future.”

I’M BROKEN-HEARTED. IT’S WHAT I’VE DONE ALL MY LIFE

SHE is already taking down the Halloween decorations as her dream of running her own nightclub is over.

Yvonne Newton-Turner has been the woman at the helm of the Trek Club in Seaford for 31 years and now she has got to say goodbye to the life she has always known.

Yvonne first became a nightclub licence holder when she was just 18 when she opened Zodiac in Brighton’s West Street 47 years ago. But this week she decided to permanently close doors of her club in Seaford, believing she did not stand a chance of keeping her licence or running it well without the support of the police.

The 65-year-old, who previously served as chairwoman of the local Pubwatch for 25 years, said she was most upset at the way it was handled by the police. She said: “The worst part is the disappointment in the police because for years we’ve worked with them.

“They took a completely different tack without any warning at all and I suppose that’s what I feel is the worst about it. The way that they’ve done it – I don’t think they gave us a fair chance at all.

“They have taken my livelihood and possibly my home and my manager’s livelihood.

“Three hundred to 400 people use this club every weekend.

“It’s the way they did it and I think they knew if it was a fair and square fight we would have had a good chance at the licensing hearing.”

Yvonne fulfilled her dream when she took over the Trek.

She is one of the licensed doormen, as is her husband Julian, and they love living above the club. They let the nearby businesses use the space at the front for car parking but that could change if the pair sell up and move on.

Life got harder for Yvonne when the business was badly affected by the 2008 recession. She kept it alive because it was her passion. The club pulled in 400 people every weekend and was run by her 21 staff. She said: “It was always my dream to open the Trek as a nightclub and I achieved that. But problems started in 2008 with the recession and I had to close half of it down.”

Speaking to The Argus while clearing out Halloween decorations for the big annual party they wanted to hold before the closure, Yvonne said she has been broken-hearted about the closure.

She said: “This is what I’ve done all my life. It has been my life. It’s what I do. I didn’t do it for the money. I did it because when I was younger I used to love going out dancing and I love the atmosphere.

“I ended up paralysed three years ago. We got through that and that was the worst thing ever.

“I’m quite positive about my life, when you weigh it up with everything else. But it’s very sad.”