Blackpool nightclub Kaos at risk of being shut down after complaints from Lancashire Police

The future of Kaos bar in Queen Street will be decided at a review meeting held by Blackpool Council later this month.

It follows an application by Lancashire Police in which the force expressed serious concerns over the “sheer volume” of call-outs to the club, which opens till 5am seven days a week.

It said Kaos repeatedly came to the attention of its licensing department after officers responded to 284 reports in the past 12 months (August 2021 to August 2022).

This “excessively high demand”, it added, has become “a massive drain on police resources”, with more than twice as many assaults reported at Kaos than any other venue in Blackpool.

In its application, the force said: “The sheer volume of calls that police receive in relation to Kaos means that officers are often diverted from dealing with other incidents across Blackpool and further afield to resolve fights within and outside the venue.

"The main concern of the police is that the next assault within or outside the venue will be so serious as to result in life changing injuries or, ultimately, the loss of life.”

Lancashire Police has asked the Council to review the premises licence and has made it clear that it would like to see it revoked altogether.

The force added: “It is the belief of Lancashire Constabulary that the venue has failed its duty in relation to each of the four licencing objectives. These are: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.

“The Police would suggest to the committee that a full revocation of the premises licence at Kaos is the only way to ensure the promotion of the licensing objectives and to prevent the next serious incident.”

Why Lancashire Police want to see Kaos shut down

There have been 284 logs recorded by police at Kaos from August 2021 to August 31, 2022.

Of these, 76 have been recorded as assaults, 16 as public order offences and 27 as a variety of other crimes.

The police database which records incidents across the county, shows Queen Street, Blackpool had the third highest violent crime rate in the whole of Lancashire over the past 12 months.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “With one of the latest licences in Blackpool, Kaos has always been a venue that carried a large amount of risk and needed running robustly, to ensure promotion of the licensing objectives and safe management of customers.

"The main problematic times are clearly between 4am and 6am where Kaos becomes one of the only venues still open in the town.

"People who have clearly already consumed enough alcohol and should be going home are taken in by Kaos and provided with more alcohol.

"This then, unsurprisingly, leads to the serious problems, fights and assaults that take place within and outside the venue after this time.

“Despite numerous meetings, advice and warnings given to the licence holder Neil Cropper, Kaos simply cannot prevent itself being a magnet for crime and disorder.

“The inaction of Mr Cropper to uphold the licensing objectives is clear, as evidenced above and supported by the breaches of licence conditions.

"The main concern of the police is that the next assault within or outside the venue will be so serious as to result in life changing injuries or, ultimately, the loss of life.”

A decision will be made by Blackpool Council’s licencing committee at a review on Thursday, September 29.