A Glenrothes nightclub faces the threat of closure after becoming the second venue in Scotland to have its licence revoked following a special review.
Club Illusion had its licence terminated with immediate effect at a meeting of Fife licensing board in Kirkcaldy after it was discovered it had been operating without a premises manager.
The club, which has become well-known in the area for holding specially organised discos for under-18s, was stripped of its licence after a discussion between police, licensing standards officers and representatives of the club.
Coupled with uncertainties over the club’s management structure, the board decided against suspension and instead opted to use the maximum power available under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 in revoking the licence.
Club Illusion now has two weeks to appeal the decision and will continue to operate its weekly discos for under-18s in the meantime.
Monday’s review had been called by the board, with much of the emphasis being placed on the role of David McKenzie-Drummond who described himself as an events co-ordinator for Club Illusion.
However, following work-related dealings with both police and licensing standards officers, there was a consensus Mr McKenzie-Drummond was actually in charge of operations at the venue, despite not being holder of the premises licence or being the personal licence holder.
Addressing the meeting, Chief Inspector Dougie Saunders said, “It is apparent that McKenzie-Drummond is running these licensed premises. The problem we have is that he is unaccountable within the law.Grace periodClub Illusion had been allowed to operate recently after the previous premises licence holder, Andrew Steele, had returned briefly after leaving in December.
Having departed for a second time last month, the club had been allowed to operate without the required licence holder for a five week “grace” period to allow for a new person to be appointed.
Joining Mr McKenzie-Drummond at the meeting was Stuart Donnelly of Newgrove Management Ltd, who was set to fill the role vacated by Mr Steele.
However, Fife Police felt his job would continue to be subservient to that of his colleague even if he became premises manager.
Mr Saunders added, “We have substantial grounds for a review for operating without a premises manager. There are sufficient grounds for concern of events run here, and there has been a catalogue of incidents.
“The responsibility for licensing is with Mr Donnelly, but he seems to have very little influence in the running of the club.”
His concerns were shared by Douglas Hardaker, from Fife Council’s environmental health and licensing standards department, who said, “We must not lose sight of the fact that there has been no premises manager for months and that continues to be the case.
“We have been lied to and misled by the management of the club.”Misled””Under McKenzie-Drummond these premises have been running without a premises manager and nobody seems to be taking the lead.
“We’ve been misled on more than one occasion and the role of Donnelly is subordinate to Mr McKenzie-Drummond.”
Throughout the hearing both Mr Donnelly and Mr McKenzie-Drummond had defended their business and stated their desire to be responsible business owners for the area.
Stating that a pro-active strategy had been adopted in terms of security and customer safety, Mr Donnelly added, “Our under-age discos were set up to give something back to the community.
“We’ve been disappointed with the police, but have tried to forge a relationship with them. Our door was always open.”
The only other establishment to have its licence revoked under new licensing legislation was the Cavendish pub in in the Nitshill area of Glasgow two months ago.