Manchester nightclub Cirque to keep licence despite mass brawl

Cirque in Manchester city centre was temporarily ordered to close following the mass brawl

A nightclub can keep its licence despite hosting some of the "worst disorder" a police officer has seen.

Cirque in Manchester was temporarily ordered to close following a mass brawl in the early hours of 19 September.

A full review hearing of the council's licensing committee was told a fight broke out in the VIP section and a man was knocked unconscious.

Sarah Clover, representing Cirque owners OOTF Ltd, described it as a "one-off episode".

The hearing heard how security staff at the Queen Street club chased customers outside using metal barrier poles and ropes as weapons, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

One man, who had been at the venue where tables can cost up to £2,000, brandished a makeshift club while threats were made to shoot people.

PC Alan Isherwood, from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said: "It is no exaggeration to say that it was some of the worst disorder linked to a licensed premises that I have seen in my 11 years as a police licensing officer.

"The fact that security barriers are wielded and used like clubs and thrown across a main road is truly shocking."

GMP and the council's licensing and out of hours team had called for the club to permanently lose its licence

GMP said its investigation had been hindered as Cirque staff failed to properly record the details of the individuals using the club's ID scanning system.

John Common, director and managing partner of Cirque, told the committee they were taking steps to "make sure these mistakes and non-compliance don't happen again".

Ms Clover, on behalf of Cirque, added that it was a "one-off episode, fairly catastrophic no doubt but it stands alone".

GMP and the council's licensing and out-of-hours team had called for the club, which was formerly known as the Press Club and Toy Box, to permanently lose its licence.

Committee chair Councillor William Jeavons told the hearing that they "seriously considered revocation" of the licence as the behaviour of the door staff on the night was "entirely unacceptable".

However, the committee agreed to allow it to reopen with additional conditions to improve safety.

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