‘Mass disturbance club should close’ - Bloomsbury's Traffic Night Club under investigation by licensing officials following dance floor brawl

Published: 24 February 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

A NIGHTCLUB is under investigation by licensing officials after a man was stabbed eight times when a dance floor brawl spilled out into a nearby square.

Police say the incident outside Traffic, in Vernon Place, Bloomsbury is the latest in a long line of disturbances at the venue and are calling for it to be shut down.

Traffic’s owners insist they are taking the matter “extremely seriously” and have introduced a number of emergency measures including bag searches, new door staff and earlier closing hours after police called an urgent licence review.

They claim the club – where both the US and UK versions of TV hit Law & Order were recently filmed – suffers no more trouble than any other late-night drinking venue. 

But police have handed Camden Council licensing officials a 26-page document of complaints including theft, criminal damage and violent disorder which they say has taken place over the past year.

A review hearing is due to take place tonight (Thursday) at the Town Hall.

In a report to the committee, PC Samantha Sheppard said when she arrived at Traffic in the early hours of January 30 she was met with smashed glass, trails of blood and upturned tables – as well as man “bleeding out” in a chair.

She added: “The man was slumped in a chair wearing blood-soaked clothes. There were patrons, staff and security personnel, at least 10 to 15 persons, none of whom were offering any assistance whatsoever to the injured male.

“The only activity was the rapid sweeping of the dance floor by bar staff. The dance floor had clearly been the scene of a mass disturbance with the entire area littered with smashed glass.

“None of the security team or management were instructing the staff to stop clearing the crime scene and were utterly ineffective in their actions.” 

Two men were taken to hospital with stab wounds and a further two men were later discovered receiving medical treatment, the report said. 

Owner Christopher Haralambous told the New Journal: “Whatever incident occurred it happened outside the premises after we were closed.

“There had been a small incident on the dance floor and the people involved were immediately ejected from the premises and the incident occurred around the corner.

“We take this very seriously but it was something beyond our control. We have changed our CCTV, hired new security staff and introduced more rigorous searching of guests, and complied with every request made by the police.”

He added that profits had been hit as staff had been forced to cancel birthday parties and events following the reduced opening hours.