'ROWDY' CLUB'S LICENCE BATTLE

Venue wants to extend hours amid claims over incidents

- By EDWARD BARNES

PEOPLE reported hearing “shouting and fighting in the street” near a Wirral club in the early hours and one person said their seven-year-old child was “scared” because of it.

The reports emerged as a row over the venue's opening hours came to a head this week.

Gary Miller, from the Phoenix Club on Rake Lane in New Brighton, has applied to Wirral Council to extend the club’s opening hours. The members' club, which people can join for £24 a year, describes itself as “New Brighton’s premier late bar.”

The club had initially asked to stay open until at least 1.45am every day and 3.45am on Fridays and Saturdays. However, due to concerns, they changed the application to close at 1.30am Sunday to Thursday and 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.

During a lengthy Wirral Council licensing meeting on Wednesday, which ran for more than six hours, the members' club fielded accusations and serious allegations over its operations.