A COLCHESTER nightclub has received permission to open and serve booze later into the early hours of the morning.

Atik, in High Street, applied to vary the conditions of its alcohol licence to allow it to serve alcohol and provide entertainment up to 4am seven days a week and 6am on special occasions.

However, following a raft of objections from Colchester Civic Society and residents living nearby, the club’s owner revised the application.

The new proposals will see the club serve alcohol until 2am on Mondays, 3am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, up to 4am on Thursdays to Saturdays and Sundays until 1am.

There will also be later opening hours allowed on special days during the University of Essex’s Freshers’ Week.

The revised opening hours were approved at a meeting of Colchester Council’s licensing sub-committee.

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Jonathan Smith, representing Atik at the hearing, said: “We do find people are simply skipping out of the nightclub and going to bars or clubs such as Hudsons, Roberts, Fashion or Silk Road.

“Or alternatively we are losing out on customers who are going on to a bar after they have been with us for additional hours drinking.

“We want to be able to provide entertainment to keep the customers with us and come to us having left the likes of Yates or Slug and Lettuce rather than going to what are drink led bars and pubs.

“We are a club – we do not make any apologies for it. We are the only old-fashioned club in Colchester.”

Dimitri Murray, chairman of the Dutch Quarter Association, spoke against the changes on behalf of residents.

He said residents regularly suffered from anti-social behaviour due to town centre revellers and urged the committee to reject the plans.

“We can’t see any public benefit of extending these hours,” Mr Murray said.

However, the committee decided to approve the revised application, adding two new conditions.

Atik must provide a contact line for the duty manager at the premises to the Dutch Quarter Association and bosses must meet with residents at least once every six months.