Plymouth nightclub licence revoked after noise and 'chaos'

A Plymouth city centre nightclub has become the first in 11 years to have its licence revoked - after neighbours complained about noise and “chaos”. Club Inferno, in Lockyer Street, was sanctioned following an investigation by police and council licensing officers.

The nightspot, which re-opened in March last year, had been at the centre of complaints that its music was so loud it was keeping people awake at night with clubbers “screaming, shouting, crying, arguing, vomiting” and leaving rubbish and smashed bottles lying around. Nearby residents complained the din was having a detrimental effect on their physical and mental health.

Despite several attempts to work with the club during the past 18 months, there were ongoing breaches of licence conditions. The 380-capacity club was hauled before Plymouth City Council ’s licensing sub-committee in September and again this month.

The second hearing discussed whether club bosses had made the changes required of them at the previous hearing. Licence conditions had been imposed to ensure safety of customers using the club and to avoid noise from late night music spilling into neighbouring properties. The committee heard the club, situated in a Grade II listed building across the road from the Theatre Royal car park, had been given advice on how to comply with these conditions and an opportunity to demonstrate it could abide by them - but had failed to do so.

At the September hearing, the club’s boss gave assurances that they understood the licence conditions and that they would comply with them. Despite this, noise complaints continued to be received and police licensing officers found multiple breaches of the licence following police attendance at a medical emergency.

At this month’s hearing, the committee found the licensing objectives of “prevention of public nuisance” and “prevention of crime and disorder” had been significantly undermined by the club. Police licensing officers highlighted multiple breaches of the licence and the committee heard how the lives of residents in the immediate vicinity had been affected considerably by noise.

The committee found there was no reasonable explanation by the licence holders for these repeated failures. Revocation of a licence is a rare occurrence in Plymouth and hasn’t happened to a nightclub since 2013.

Cllr Sally Haydon, cabinet member for community safety, said: “This is not something we take lightly, we want a vibrant night-time economy and for people to be able to go out and have a good time, but we expect venues to operate in such a way that it supports the licensing objectives and keeps everyone safe, without affecting neighbours.

“This is rare for Plymouth, we have taken a stepped approach to assist the club to comply before asking the committee to consider revocation as a last resort. The committee has carefully considered the representations of the applicants, the premises licence holder, the local residents and the police to reach the difficult decision of revoking the licence.”

A report to the committee said complaints started to pour in within days of the club opening on March 31, 2023. Residents complained of noise and chaos. PlymouthLive contacted Club Inferno for a response when the licence review was announced but did not receive one.

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