New owners plan to reopen Astoria nightclub

The venue wants to host indoor sporting events, boxing, wrestling and live music from 10:00 until 06:00 every day

Plans have been put forward to reopen a Wolverhampton nightclub that was shut down by the city council.

Astoria, on Skinner Street, has been closed since December after managers were accused of putting the public at risk by ignoring safety measures.

An application by new owners for the late-night venue requested permission to host sporting events, boxing, wrestling and live music from 10:00 until 06:00 every day.

The plans are by Apollo Entertainments Ltd, which is owned by Ricki Wellman, who runs another nightclub and two pubs in the city.

Astoria opened in 2023 following a £1m makeover but closed just 14 months later.

West Midlands Police said requests to be notified of events – a key condition of its licence - were ignored and failing to make them aware of events throughout the year had led to disorder at the venue.

West Midlands Fire Service said it also had its concerns about how fire safety checks were carried out.

The 700-capacity venue had hosted Sky Sports boxing, Bongo's Bingo, and Euro 2024 games as well as raves, DJ sets, gigs and stand-up comedy.

The new application by Mr Wellman, who runs the city's Gorgeous Nightclub in School Street, the Royal London pub in Wulfruna Street and the White Hart in Worcester Street, asks to be allowed to serve alcohol until 05:00.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.