Two nightclubs could be shut down by councillors after police complained they were dangerous for drinkers.
Sussex Police has requested Adur and Worthing councils review the licenses of Liquid Lounge and Light Bar in Worthing, claiming the venues present “a real danger to the patrons at the premises” and “a detriment to the wider local community”.
Club staff have been accused of failing to report assaults and other incidents to police which have hampered investigations into serious incidents.
A police report lists 37 separate occasions since April 2011 when officers have been called to deal with sexual assaults, dance floor fights and licence breaches at the venues in Chatsworth Road.
The venues had more incidents in one month than any other nightclub in Sussex.
Police officers have also been assaulted attempting to detain violent and drunk Liquid Lounge customers while there have been reports of sexual offences being committed against clubbers inside the venues and on females who have left the premises in a vulnerable and drunken state.
Routine inspection
Liquid Lounge and The Light Bar are premises joined internally by a flight of stairs and while they have separate licences, they are both run by licence holders Peter Mott and Barry Wells of the Lounge Leisure Group.
Recent incidents include a clubber saying she was raped close to the venue at 3am on November 4 after she spent the night drinking in Liquid Lounge.
On October 27 a reveller suffered a fractured jaw after being attacked on the club’s dancefloor.
But when police officers arrived minutes later for a routine inspection staff did not tell them about the incident and refused to call an ambulance for the victim.
In an incident in May a man who suffered a fractured jaw in an attack on the dancefloor was taken by club manager James Lanz to Worthing Hospital where he was dropped outside the front entrance.
Officers suggested this was done to avoid bringing the matter to the attention of police and caused problems when they tried to collect forensic evidence
The report concludes: “Sussex Police contend that it is necessary and appropriate that the licensing committee gives very serious consideration to the revocation of the premises licence, thereby preventing the risk of further injury and protecting the public.”
The council review is expected in January.
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