'Liquid not closing over pitched-battle incident'

Difficult trading conditions in Newbury blamed for the nightclub's closure

The closure of troubled Newbury nightclub Liquid will result in the loss of 20 jobs.

The club's closure as reported yesterday on Newburytoday is

being blamed on difficult trading conditions in the town.

Spokesman for the loss-making nightclub, Stephen Lynn denied the decision was taken as a result of an incident earlier in the summer when youths ejected from the club fought a pitched battle with police.

Mr Lynn said: “The late night entertainment industry in Newbury has been hit hard in recent times and localised economic and operating challenges have resulted in the business being no longer viable."

He denied the move was simply a re-branding exercise and added: “Luminar Leisure, Liquid's parent company hopes to re-open the venue at some point and would like to thank the team at Newbury, both past and present for their hard work and dedication and the clubbers of Newbury for their custom.”

The Kennet Centre based club first opened its doors in 2002 and was refurbished in 2007, but hit the headlines in July when youths evicted from the club fought pitched battles in Newbury town centre with police.

Newbury MP Richard Benyon led the criticism when it emerged that on the night the club had been running an 80p drinks promotion.

Mr Lynn denied that the club's closer had anything to do with the incident, saying: “We don't think we would have had any problems renewing our alcohol licence.”

Mr Lynn confirmed that the contracts of most of the 20 employees were being terminated, but said they were hoping to retain some of the management: “We are looking to find new roles for (manager) Matt Chason.”

A sales manager at the club, Tim Wills first posted an the news of the club's closure on his Facebook account yesterday (Monday), saying: “can sadly now confirm the rumours are true... Liquid Newbury is closing this weekend! :-( Watch this space for info on our final parties, you won't want to miss them, we're not planning on going out quietly....”