Area nightclub licence hearing: Live (From Watford Observer)

12:19pm

That's the proceedings over. Will have more on this story later. 

12:18pm

Area's barrister, Mr Gouriet, asks if club can start its 2 month closure today? Request rejected as police say they want it the club closed over Christmas, essentially to act as a punishment. Area will close in 21 days.

12:15pm

Councillor Jan Brown says committee welcomes the rebranding and hopes the new club will help make the town centre a "family friendly" place.

12:11pm

Councillors have just come back in to give their decision.

12:05pm

Still waiting for the councillors to come back. Taking a bit if time deliberating. They have the power to add extra conditions to Area's licence if they see fit.

11:51am

11:39am

The three councillors have now retired to deliberate on the club's fate. Should hear their decision soon.

11:36am

Simon Raine, the managing director of Area's parent club Gatecrasher, says he was just not made aware of problems and the suspended Area manager had been a good worker until last six months.

11:32am

She says US president Harry Truman had a sign in his office which said 'the buck stops here'. Wants to know why the same does not seem to apply to Area's senior management.

11:29am

Councillor Jan Brown now questioning Area management.

11:27am

Club representatives say issues were the fault of old manager of Area who has now been suspended and a new one is appointed. They say senior management was not made aware of issues at Area.

11:26am

Councillor Meerabux expresses concerns about fact doors to the club were found chained shut. Says club has 1,500 capacity and if something went wrong it would be 'on the front page' and would make for nasty reading.

11:22am

Councillors are now questioning representatives of Area. Independent Malcolm Meerabux is first up.

11:20am

Mr Gouriet says the new club will be branded to make it less attractive to 18 to 25 year olds who he says are the source of a lot of the trouble.

11:18am

Mr Gouriet confirms Area will close for a bit and open as a new club. The new name is not decided yet. 

11:10am

11:07am

However he says that he does not think all the noise and issues are coming from Area. Mr Sumner says his biggest issue with the town centre is that The Gade car park and surrounding area is not "adequately policed".

11:03am

One resident of Wilmington Close, Steve Sumner, says that residents living in town centre expect to suffer a level of night time noise.

11:01am

Councillors are now hearing from residents living near the club who say they hear drunken screaming and noise coming from the club's smoking areainto early hours of night.

10:54am

However Mr Grant adds police will be watching Area "like a hawk" and if it does not improve they will not hesitate to move to have it shut down again.

10:52am

Mr Grant is now listing possible changes to the way Area is run, which would make it staying open acceptable to the police. Among them is to give up its right to open longer than its normal hours.

10:49am

Mr Grant says police and club have thrashed a compromise where club will agree to strict changes. Looks like it may close for a few weeks and open under a new brand.

10:45am

Mr Grant says Area came to the police's attention after a number of issues, including people being violently assaulted with bottles there and underage drinkers being found "paralytic" at the club. 

10:42am

He says police have a simple objective: to make Watford town centre a safer place and they will not tolerate clubs that get in the way of that.

10:39am

Barrister, Gary Grant, speaking for the police, has opened the hearing. He is listing problems police have had at Area.

10:37am

Proceedings are starting. Councillor Jan Brown has been elected as chair of the meeting.

10:29am

The decision over the club's fate will be made by three Watford Borough Councillors sitting on its licensing sub committee this morning. These are Liberal Democrats Jan Brown and Keith Crout, plus independent Malcolm Meerabux.

10:27am

Police have said if the council does not revoke the club's licence today they want stricter conditions placed on its licence.

10:26am

You can also read our article on the background to today's hearing here.

10:25am

Hertfordshire Constabulary has produced a long report, which you can read here, cataloging problems at the club over the last year.

10:23am

Today's hearing has come about after police have applied for "the complete revocation of the premises licence" of the club on The Parade.

10:22am

Morning, welcome to the Watford Observer's live coverage of the licence hearing that will determine the future of Area nightclub.