A DECISION on shutting down the After Dark nightclub in Reading has been delayed until April.

A judge in High Wycombe will choose on April 28 whether to uphold a decision by Reading Borough Council to take away the licence for the club on 112 London Street. 

Zee Khan, After Dark manager, appealed to Reading Magistrates' Court the decision last year after councillors said they had “no confidence” in him.

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The appeal was due to be heard on January 31 by a judge in Reading, who adjourned the case because two other criminal cases had to be heard on the same morning. 

Edward Elton, the lawyer representing the council, told the court the appeal would need a whole day to be heard in full. He said: “This is existential for the club. It would be wrong for anyone to rush it, out of desire to see it done.” 

Mr Khan wanted to represent himself in the appeal. Asked whether he had considered hiring a lawyer, he said: “We did look at lawyers, but we think it’s a simple case and we would like to represent ourselves.” 

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The council decided in June last year to take his licence to “safeguard the public”, after Thames Valley Police raised concerns that the club was running “high-risk events” attracting customers with a “propensity for extreme violence”. 

Noise complaints were also a concern, of environmental protection officers at the council who had received multiple complaints from neighbours that music was being played too loudly late at night. 

The After Dark has stayed open since the council’s decision in June, pending the appeal to the magistrates court. But Mr Khan said it will shut for the next three months, “to regroup the business”.  

He said: “It’s a shame not to go today. We can’t have this hanging over us, but we look forward to the April date.”

The club could soon be knocked down and turned into six flats as the owner of the building, KK Property Investment, has applied to the council for planning permission to knock down the club. 

Two previous attempts to knock down the club and turn it into flats have been rejected by council planners.