Proud threatened with closure as club boss lashes out at council killjoys

He’s also sick of you “rich little babies” having your phones robbed


Furious club supremo Alex Proud has threatened to shut down the Camden club that shares his name – complaining that council jobsworths treat the venue like “a village pub”.

Proud by name, proud by nature

Proud’s outburst comes as yet another sucker punch to UCL clubbers left in the lurch by the much-mourned closure of Moonies in July, as his 700-capacity venue in the Stables Market has stepped into the Monday night breach left by Soho’s generously upholstered smut den.

Blaming clueless lawmakers for a “puritanical” approach to licensing laws, Proud says that regulations on security and noise pollution are creating an “almost inoperable” working environment for the popular nightspot.

According to the Telegraph columnist, the cost of keeping the club open has skyrocketed due to the strict enforcement of council diktats.

He says that he has no option but to “spend more than £150,000 than we did three years ago on various security measures and staffing”.

Speaking to the Camden New Journal, Proud dropped the devastating bombshell that local business leaders believe that “maybe it is game over for Camden Town”.

He added that despite Proud’s massive popularity, the council’s approach seems to be “nothing but resentment and people threatening to close us”.

He claims that joyless Town Hall pen-pushers threatened to shut him down – after they received just two noise complaints over six months.

Proud – a renovated horse hospital replete with hot tub – had its licence reviewed in 2012 after reports of crime in the area spiked.

Its owner, however, complains that the police do not take into account the increased footfall generated by the venue and argues that some visiting boozehounds don’t look after their belongings as diligently as they should.

“This is a nightclub that over that time has served over 50,000 people. You name a police or council official who gets two complaints against them and loses their job.”

UCL Karate prez Phil Compton is one of those 50,000 people

Proud says: “I had a licence review two years ago, based on the fact that too many mobile phones were stolen from my premises, so that’s too many rich little babies who couldn’t be bothered to read a sign saying ‘be careful of your belongings’ had phones stolen.”

Responding to Proud’s catalogue of complaints, Camden councillor and licensing boss Maryam Eslamdoust said: “The council has to apply careful and considered regulation in an area such as Camden Town, which has one of the highest densities of licensed premises in the country, living cheek by jowl alongside our residents.”

“The council has not made any recent significant changes to Proud’s licence. The last set of changes were imposed after an agreement between Mr Proud and the police, so it is not clear what regulations he is referring to.”

It is clear, though, that if you lose your phone at Proud next Monday, the boss is referring to you as a rich little baby.