Studio 45 is shut down

A Walsall nightclub with a reputation for violence has been closed down after trouble there last weekend.

Studio 45 in Bridge Street has been ordered by a district judge to shut pending a full licensing hearing after repeated incidents of crime and disorder. The club's management had pleaded to keep it open.

The order is the first of its kind in the Walsall borough since the new licensing laws were introduced in 2003.

District Judge Michael Morris, sitting at Walsall Magistrates Court yesterday, backed police who imposed an immediate closure order on the venue on Saturday.The court heard that on Saturday, trouble started when a man with a knuckle duster was arrested trying to get into the club.

Acting Inspector Caroline Marsh said police then saw a man stumble out of the fire exit with a large cut down the back of his neck, apparently having been slashed with a broken Budweiser bottle which was later found on the floor inside.

She said 25 minutes later, a crowd of men burst out of the front door, covered in blood and fighting with each other, one of whom suffered a broken nose.

Acting Insp Marsh ordered the club be closed immediately and the men were taken to hospital.

The club, which employs 25 staff and has a capacity of more than 1,000, has been asked to close twice before by police after trouble. Suggested conditions to keep it open included raising the entry age to 21 and a 12.30am entry curfew.

But Mr Morris said the conditions would not allay his fears. He said there was "no clearly defined management" at the club and supervisor Mark Hewitt showed "little knowledge of the main licensing objectives".

Studio 45 management will appear before the council's licensing authority within 28 days who will decide on its future.

The venue is owned by Punch Taverns Ltd but leased to Bill Murphy, who took over in July last year.

By Fiona McCartney