Rock Zombie nightclub in Dudley shut down over violence
A nightclub plagued by violence has been shut down by the council.
Police chiefs said they believed there was a real prospect of a 'tragedy' occurring at Rock Zombie if it was allowed to continue.
Conditions were imposed on the club's licence in March but the King Street venue has continued to attract trouble.
There was violence during June and July, which included a customer being punched and kicked on the dance floor and an assault on a bouncer.
A gang of between 20 and 30 people also 'stormed' the venue, police said.
Police said known gang members from Wolverhampton and Birmingham had been trying to get into the club, a situation they said was not being helped by a change in music at the club from rock to reggae and RnB.
On the advice of police, Dudley Council's licensing committee revoked the club's premises licence.
Officers had been called to the club 74 times since the start of 2015. And with violence continuing since, police chiefs said closing the premises was the only option.
Inspector Julie Mason told the hearing: "I strongly say there is a real concern if the licence continues there will be an escalation in gang attendance at that venue.
Someone who has been there is known to have convictions for possession of a firearm and drugs so there is a possibility of serious incidents occurring to cause serious harm or worse in Dudley."
A doorman was attacked with a machete in the early hours of Christmas Day in the most serious incident to happen at the club.
Owners of Rock Zombie Kenny and Mandy Jinks said they had done their best to comply with conditions imposed by police and accused the force of wanting to 'shut down Dudley'.
After the hearing, they claimed the trouble would just move on to other Dudley venues.
