One of Leeds' biggest nightclubs has had its licence suspended after police warned it was just a matter of time before a reveller died of a drugs overdose.
Officers said the risks at the 2,000-capacity Victoria Works in Holbeck – home to two of Leeds's biggest clubbing institutions – Federation and Dirty Disco – were so serious, immediate action was needed.
* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from your YEP.West Yorkshire Police gave Leeds City Council's licensing sub-committee details of clubbers suffering serious overdoses, and violence.
* Click here to become a fan of the YEP on Facebook.A police report to the panel, which met on Wednesday, said: "These premises have a history of staging high-risk events which attract customers associated with serious crime and class A drug dealing and misuse."
* Click here to follow the YEP on Twitter.Sergeant Robert Fullilove, head of Leeds District Licensing Office, said despite warnings and promises, management and door staff had failed to crackdown on drug-taking in the club – a former mechanics bodyshop.
He said: "We fear that before too long there will be a drugs fatality."
Police were carrying out licensing checks at the venue in June when a reveller's near-fatal cocaine and ecstasy overdose saw him hospitalised for almost a week.
That same night there was a violent fight between two groups of men, which led to several arrests.
One clubber had a specially-made glove with Kevlar-filled knuckles – the hard plastic used in police body armour.
Police said they spoke to witnesses who said "drug dealing and misuse was rife" at the club that night.
Officers warned the club had "problematic customers" and was a "powder keg waiting to explode".
* Click here to view the Leeds Millennnium Square webcam.The management insisted everyone was searched on entering the club but police said that was "plainly not true".
In October, while officers were again carrying out a licensing check,
another clubber overdosed on ketamine, a horse tranquilizer taken as a recreational drug.
Sgt Fullilove told the committee: "Having been given a clear warning in June/July 2009 that police were dissatisfied with the way customers were being supervised and the likelihood of a drugs death or serious injury at the site, the same situation was still ongoing in October."
The licence will be reviewed by the panel on December 11.
Victoria Works' owners are expected to appeal, which could cost them thousands in cancelled events.
