THE fresh delay to the reopening of nightclubs feels like a “catastrophic” blow, a seafront club director has said.

Regional operations director Adrian Swain, who oversees Brighton’s PRYZM nightclub along with other venues in the south of England, says the delay to reopening is a “kick in the teeth” for the industry.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a press conference yesterday that constraints on nightclubs will continue beyond June 21 as the end of England’s coronavirus restrictions is to be delayed by up to four weeks

Known for its colourful nightlife and vibrant culture, Brighton has seen a string of events cancelled during the pandemic, including the city’s famous Brighton Pride festivities two years in a row.

Mr Swain said: “It feels catastrophic for us to be honest because we have done so much work in the last four weeks preparing to open in full.

“We absolutely wanted a prescribed date – with the uncertainty and and the ambiguity it’s a really difficult one to plan for”, he added.

The normally-busy nightclub, located just a few hundred yards from Brighton Pier, had been set to host a reopening celebration on June 21 with many tickets already sold out.

Mr Swain said the Brighton’s PRYZM club normally sees 2,000 people head through its doors on a Friday night, but current coronavirus restrictions have seen numbers drop to just 200.

“And it’s all seated, it’s all table service, all order and pay at the table.

“The whole model is sort of different -a big social element of it is missing.”

He added that the fresh delay has had a “psychological” impact on staff as well as posing financial challenges for the company.

Mr Swain called on the Government to extend the furlough scheme, which he says does not cover any of the new staff PRYZM have taken on as they geared up for the now-delayed reopening on June 21.