We'll cut out the violence and help stop drink-driving'

Kingston's 2,500-capacity super club Oceana has vowed to work with town centre residents to tackle late-night problems caused by its customers.

Bosses made the assurance at a meeting of Kingston Council's licensing committee on Thursday night, as the Clarence Street club was granted an extension to its music, dance and alcohol licence until April.

The process took three hours, as residents made their case against the renewal of the club's opening hours, and questioned the management over problems they believe the club has brought to the town.

Various residents' associations, and campaign group Enough is Enough, had written to the council asking that the club's licence was not renewed. They cited drunken, yobbish behaviour, noise and litter generated by patrons as reasons why the licence should be denied.

Residents also cited a lack of transport after midnight as contributing to the problems.

They said clubbers leaving the venue had to wait for long periods for taxis, because there were no trains and few night buses, and often trouble would flair up.

"If you are charged with disposing of 3,000 young people, it almost doesn't matter how many dozens of well-trained staff you've got, there are going to be some problems.

"I have no doubt that Oceana's management is trying, but in some cases trying is not good enough," said Malcolm Grosvenor, of Enough is Enough and the Kingston Federation of Residents' Associations.

However, the club said it has taken measures, including employing stewards to manage the queues of people leaving the club at the end of the night.

Manager Steve Fleury also said opening more tills to get people inside more quickly had eased the problems.

A legal representative for Luminar Leisure, which owns the club, said these measures have helped stop the queue snaking along Clarence Street and into Eden Street. And she produced photos to show the queue is shorter, and moves more rapidly, since their introduction.

Kingston police did not appear at the session and is not objecting to the licence renewal.

Oceana has promised to meet with residents' groups on a regular basis to discuss any problems.

The club has also produced a neighbours' charter, which will be delivered to all people living in the area, with management contact phone numbers.

But, despite Oceana's promises, residents were still bitterly disappointed the licence was granted.

"At the moment, Kingston town centre is not a very nice place to be late at night, and Oceana is a major player in the night-time economy," Mr Grosvenor said.

Oceana is enhancing its image as a responsible club by offering revellers half-price rooms at the nearby Travelodge, in a bid to stop people drinking and driving.

Club and hotel bosses hit on the innovative idea during a recent meeting, and have now struck a weekend deal where Oceana customers get a room for half the normal price, if they check in after midnight.

Travelodge manager Lindsey Carnegie said weekends are the hotel's quietest period, so the deal made business sense as well as cutting drink-driving.

She said: "Oceana manager Steve Fleury was worried about people driving home, so I said we could offer a discount for his customers to stay with us."

She said the hotel gets an average of 10 clubbers taking advantage of the deal most weekend nights. During the week most of its customers are business people.

Mr Fleury added: "If people feel they've had too much to drink and can't drive home, then this makes a lot of sense.

"The hotel is just round the corner, and we advertise the deal in the venue.

"It's been surprisingly successful in the short time we've been doing it."