COLCHESTER Council has admitted it is powerless to stop a town centre club from opening until 4.30am.

Licensing bosses had initially refused Silk Road's application for an extension to its opening hours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

But after the St Botolph's Street club lodged an appeal, the council withdrew from the process after admitting it had used the wrong licensing policy when rejecting the application at a hearing in January.

It meant councillors used a stricter set of criteria than it should have.

Osman Rasih, who runs Silk Road, said: "We did get the licence on a technicality but at the time the police and council licensing did not object against us, which shows that we are doing something right.

"The council set out a new policy in January outlining that they did not want venues running after 3am.

"Fortunately for us, we applied in the summer of 2015."

Mr Rasih added although the club will be open until 4.30am, there is a strict no entry policy after 2.30am, which he plans to bring back to 2am.

A Colchester Borough Council spokeswoman said: "The Silk Road Premises licence has been extended until 4.30am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays following the withdrawal of the appeal case at Colchester Magistrates' Court.

"The licensing sub-committee’s original decision to refuse the application for extended hours on the basis that the extra hours fell outside the new licensing policy requirements could not be upheld due to a procedural technicality which meant that the old policy had to apply at that time.

"Whilst the licensing authority is disappointed that the new policy could not be applied, it has no concerns regarding the current management of the premises."

She added: "Future applications will be judged against the new licensing policy which seeks to restrain very late venue closing times to help ensure Colchester is a varied and desirable destination for all."

Since an in-depth review of the club's licence in 2014, council bosses have admitted Silk Road has "turned a corner".

There is now a 100 per cent search policy on the club door, which is manned by well-known company Regency Security, and there are 48 CCTV cameras watching inside and outside the club.

Mr Rasih, who has owned the club for more than seven years and spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on renovating the venue, added: "There was a problem here.

"The venue was what it was. It attracted a certain clientele.

"The review was a good thing really."

He added: "I thought the conditions put on us was going to kill us and for a short period of time, it did.

"But it started building up with a completely different clientele, which has really made a massive difference."

Mike Lilley, who is now Colchester councillor responsible for licensing, chaired the sub-committee in January.

He said: "I have to say the council is happy with the way Silk Road is run.

"It has become a better place and is actually one of the better run venues in town now."

He added: "I don't think we will agree with the late openings but I am happy to say the Silk Road of old no longer exists.

"It is now a much better place and a example of what can be done by working together."