Closed-down city nightclub keeps licence

Chinawhite in Newcastle was shut down back in March

A closed-down nightclub has kept its licence despite a police plea to strip it.

Chinawhite in Newcastle has been shut since March, with owners Lykos Leisure seeking a new buyer for the site.

The closure came amid a dispute with Tyneside authorities over a series of incidents in and around the Fenkle Street club since its opening in late 2021, including alleged fights, thefts, and druggings.

Newcastle City Council said the self-imposed cessation of trade had been a "significant response" to the major concerns about Chinawhite’s operation.

Instead, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the local authority's licensing sub-committee has imposed a condition requiring a future operator to set out what steps it would take to avoid a repeat of the past problems before it can be reopened.

'Poor management'

Council licensing boss Jonathan Bryce had been hugely critical of Chinawhite, accusing bosses of "poor management".

However, he argued the club was "very much capable" of being reopened under "suitable and sustainable" management.

Barrister Charles Holland, representing Lykos Leisure, had argued in favour of retaining the licence in the hope of a new operator taking it over.

Northumbria Police solicitor Hayley Hebb, by contrast, wanted to see the licence stripped.

She said that the long list of incidents at Chinawhite were a serious matter that had not been given a "real examination" to determine what went wrong, as a result of the club being shut down and put up for sale.

'Significant response' made

While there is technically nothing to prevent Lykos Leisure from seeking to relaunch Chinawhite itself if it cannot find a buyer, the committee said in a statement released on Monday such an outcome was "highly unlikely".

The committee said: "The closure of the premises, the termination of trade and the cessation of the Chinawhite operation is a significant response to the review application."

Evidence has been presented highlighting dozens of episodes since January 2022 that included alleged assaults, thefts, spikings and druggings, and a non-fatal strangulation at Chinawhite.

There were also complaints of illegal vapes being sold in the club's toilets, as well as news cuttings covering a fight in which Newcastle United footballer Jamaal Lascelles and his younger brother were allegedly attacked after having left the nightclub.

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