Coventry nightclub closes

A petition and clubbing night has been organised to save a Coventry nightclub after serious allegations from police led to its closure this month.

Rehab Warehouse opened in January 2013 and experienced trouble over the May bank holiday weekend. Police linked several arrests to the club which they say has links to organised gang crime and drugs. Rehab disputes these claims.

Following recommendations from West Midlands Police, who said that club-goers were at “significant risk of harm or even death”, Coventry Council suspended the club’s licence until a full review in June.

Rehab Warehouse has since started an online petition to save the club, which has garnered over 1,600 signatures so far.

Rehab is also selling tickets for a club night on June 1st, at a venue to be confirmed, to raise funds for the legal costs against the council.

Owners of Rehab will be discussing the club’s fate on local radio show Hillz FM 98.6 on Thursday 23^rd May from 1-2pm.

Speaking on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire radio last week, co-owner John Dawkins was pleased with local support for the club and emphasised the club’s zero tolerance drug policy.

He said: “We’ve had an incredible reaction and it’s a testament to the club and what it has done for the community so far.

“We are a dance venue and any licence premise holder will find it hard to keep out drugs. We work in conjunction with the police and with a local drug awareness centre and we are the only club to have a sniffer dog.”

Local student Tom Greene from Coventry University is disappointed that the club is facing closure. He said: “It’s a good venue, I’ve been before and loved it. It was good to have a bit of variety with the music scene in Coventry.”

However, Warwick student Abi Awojobi said she didn’t know many people that would miss Rehab’s existence. She said: “I appreciate that the club was trying to bring different music to the Midlands but I don’t know if it had much of a student following. I don’t know many people that went.”

Second-year Catherine Davis agreed and added: “I have never heard of that club but if it had a bad reputation for drugs then I wouldn’t have gone anyway. Yes I would like to see a better nightlife but I quite like that there isn’t loads of places because I like going out and knowing that I will see lots of [friends] in the same place.”

The club has seen several big-name DJs perform such as Skream, Mike Skinner, Oneman and Pete Tong.

A statement from the club released in May said: “Rehab Warehouse, has never and will never condone the use of drugs on the premises or violence towards anybody and we have been overwhelmed by the comments we have received from you all since yesterday, particularly around the levels of safety you as our friends and customers have experienced at our hands.”