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Attic Bar in Dover to have licence reviewed following reports of affray

A Dover nightclub is to face a review of its licence following two reports of affray just months after it won later opening hours.

Police investigating the alleged violence at the Attic Bar in Church Street have called for a hearing to take place this Friday.

The Attic Bar can open until 3am on Thursdays and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays - but is facing a licence review
The Attic Bar can open until 3am on Thursdays and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays - but is facing a licence review

Details of the incidents in December and January will be presented at the meeting, but officers have requested it be held behind closed doors to “prevent any possible frustration” to their enquiries or any court proceedings.

A police spokesman said: “As part of their work ensuring Dover remains a safe place to socialise, officers from the town’s Community Safety Unit have requested a licensing review of a premises following two incidents - one in December 2022 and one in January 2023.”

A spokesman for Dover District Council (DDC) confirmed police have called for the review and wish for it to be held in private.

The Attic Bar & Nightclub opened in July 2021, in a unit previously occupied by The Party Bar.

In November last year, DDC’s licensing committee gave permission for the venue to extend its opening hours.

Brendan Quinn lives opposite the club and describes the new opening hours as 'crazy'
Brendan Quinn lives opposite the club and describes the new opening hours as 'crazy'

It can now open until 3am on Thursdays, and until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays - the latest hours in town since the Funky Monkey nightclub permanently closed.

Residents of flats directly opposite Attic Bar, in Stembrook Court, spoke out against the decision at the time.

Tenant Brendan Quinn previously said the planned 3am Thursday closure would be “absolute torture”.

He described noise from customers of the bar as like having “an alarm across the road”.

At the November hearing, where the licence was granted, the Attic’s manager Ben Pilott said: “We take our responsibilities as a licensed venue seriously and will always do what we can to prevent disturbance to our neighbours.”

It later emerged Mr Pilott was facing a court appearance for offences carried out while drunk in July last year.

The 26-year-old stood before Margate magistrates earlier this month and admitted verbally abusing a police officer in a private car park in Dover.

He called the constable a “bad copper, a nasty tyrant and a retard”.

He was fined £115 for threatening behaviour.

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