A BAR that was the scene of a catalogue of violent crimes has been allowed to stay open - for now.

Sussex Police called for Misty’s bar in Church Road Hove to have its licence reviewed, but after the force watered down its objections councillors were left with their hands tied.

As reported by The Argus, police were called to dozens of incidents at the bar between January 2015 and December 2016 including drunken fights, glassings and sexual assaults.

Sussex Police has since called for Brighton and Hove City Council to review its licence saying it posed a serious risk to public safety.

The bar had been found to have traces of cocaine all over it including the city’s highest ever test reading -

A compromise could not be agreed yesterday and councillors have yet to decide its future.

At a hearing of the licensing panel yesterday members said they were “ghastly scenes”, “incredibly high” drug use and “vulnerable women were poorly treated” at the venue.

But the police changed their stance offering a compromise with the bar’s owner Afshin Kianifard, agreeing to a ten day temporary closure if he made improvements.

Police and Misty’s management had agreed a raft of measures including new door staff, better CCTV, mandatory ID scanning and random drug searches to curb the problems, but councillors thought more stringent measures were needed as a deterrent.

However councillors Jackie O’Quinn, Lee Wares and Julie Cattell said they would only keep the bar open if they agreed to a voluntary month-long closure. But Mr Kianifard’s barrister James Rankin said the closure would kill the business so the council would have to suspend their licence and face an appeal.

During the hearing Cllr Wares accused the police of watering down their objections but head of Sussex Police’s licensing unit Jean Irving said the bar would face regular checks and be brought before a further review if they failed again.

Police confirmed said that despite being a small venue, Misty’s had taken up a “disproportionate” amount of resources.

After being shown CCTV from a brawl at the bar chairwoman of the panel Cllr O’Quinn said it was “really lucky someone didn’t suffer a really serious injury”.

Mr Rankin said Misty’s accepted there had been some problems and Mr Kianifard had been working to improve security measures.

Mr Kianifard added: “Misty’s has been my baby for 11 years and I am taking it very seriously and very personally.”

Councillor Wares said: “Our concern is that if you close for two weeks or ten days it doesn’t send a clear message that it is a new regime and breaks the habits of those who used to go there and contribute to the problems.”

The panel will announce its decision in coming weeks.