Gentlemen's club and late-night bar in Banbury applies for seven-day licence - leaving nearby residents concerned

Mirage nightclub on Broad Street applied for a renewal of its sex establishment licence and to open seven days a week earlier this year.

Included in the application are the club’s wishes to open from 10pm until 2.30am from Monday to Wednesday, from 10pm until 4.30am from Thursday until Saturday and from 10pm until 1.30am on Sundays.

Simon, who wishes for his surname not to be included, lives opposite the Mirage nightclub in the Amos Court flats.

He believes the club should not be granted the licence, because he says it attracts antisocial behaviour.

Simon said: “The club is the last place available for people looking to get an alcoholic drink over the weekend in Banbury.

“So from 3am onwards, there are people screaming, shouting and generally causing a nuisance outside.

“The club closes at 4.30am and then there is fighting and more screaming. Last summer the police attended six weeks in a row because of people fighting outside the club.”

Simon also claims the club causes noise pollution during the early hours and says it would affect his mental health and job if it were to open daily.

He said: “From around 4am the music seems to get turned up and the whole interior of my flat vibrates. It is just awful; there’s so much noise and disruption.

“I could accept when it was just two days on the weekend, but now they want to open every day; it seems extreme. Some of my neighbours are in their 80s, and one lady is in her mid-90s, and it’s not fair to them either.

“It already affects my working life; sometimes I have 70 and 80-mile drives, and it’s not safe on limited sleep. I dread the weekend because I know I will wake up around 3 to 4am every Saturday and Sunday."

Peter Michael, general manager of Mirage, claims that despite the club applying for permission to open daily, they have no intention of doing so.

He said: “For nearly 17 years we have been operating as a successful gentlemen's club and late-night bar.

“Although our application includes these activities Sunday to Saturday, we don't actually operate every day. We only operate Fridays and Saturdays.

“It is important for us to obtain the ability to operate these activities on a daily basis, but as stated we don't.”

Peter also says that the club has been soundproofed and that the police are very rarely called to the club because of fights or antisocial behaviour.

He said: “Our venue is well soundproofed, and the internal doors are all closed apart from the front entrance. We keep the internal doors closed to help mitigate any excess noise travelling to the front entrance.

"Music is not an issue for nearby residents. If you go stand on the opposite side of the road where these flats are located, you can't hear any sound.

“We do our best to move customers on when they exit the building, and we have relevant signage asking them to be quiet when they exit.

“Police are rarely called to our venue, and if you see the statistics of police attendance over a year period, you would see that it is very low.

“Police are very happy with our venue and how we operate; as licensed businesses, we have to communicate with police and their recent comments state we are no concern.”