A nightclub owner said he was amazed that nobody was killed when part of an archway collapsed.

One woman was knocked unconscious and another had stitches in a head wound. A 7ft by 4ft chunk of wooden alcoving, weighing more than 500lb, fell on them from a height of 10ft during a concert at the newly-opened Concorde 2 venue in Madeira Drive, Brighton.

Victims and witnesses criticised the club's managers for not stopping the concert and turning on the lights, forcing medics carrying torches to treat the casualties in the dark. Safety officials from Brighton and Hove Council were yesterday checking the club for further structural defects.

The incident happened at 1am on Sunday during a sold out concert where Sixties musicians Brian Auger and The New Oblivion Express were playing to a crowd of 540.

One of the victims, Marlon Still, 27, of Thornton Heath, south London, was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, where he had 11 stitches on the top of his head.

He said: "I was just shocked by the whole thing. If I had been bending down and it had hit me on the back of the head, I would have died. It was only later I realised the music didn't stop. I was OK, but there was a woman lying injured on the floor. I'm not sure if she was conscious or not."

David Verrecchia, 36, who lives in the Brighton area, suffered cuts and bruising after being hit by debris. He said: "If I had been a step closer it would have been straight onto my head and God knows what could have happened. Security didn't handle the situation at all well. They didn't even stop the event. They should have put the lights on to see if it was safe, but people just carried on dancing. How did they know another piece wouldn't come falling down?"

West Sussex County Councillor Brian Whipp, whose son, Chris, 32, was at the event, said he would be investigating the incident. He said: "It was a very serious incident, but the gig didn't stop."

Club owner Chris Steward said: "I am amazed nobody was killed. We are so, so sorry that people got hurt. We are not running away from our obligations or trying to deny anything happened. We are just dumbfounded by it. We did an awful lot of work on this place. It's just a terrible accident."

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