Ayr's biggest nightclub to close doors with 'immediate effect' as bosses take aim at South Ayrshire Council

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Ayr's biggest nightclub has announced its shock closure tonight with immediate effect.Bosses at Vinyl in the town's Arthur Street said they were taking the decision with an "incredibly heavy heart" as they confirmed the venue's dancefloor had run out of road.

In an official statement, they took aim at South Ayrshire Council over the authority's licensing policy which does not permit differential operating hours between various types of licensed premises.This, allied to tough trading conditions post-Covid, has convinced the venue to shut its doors as a strictly nightclub business.

The venue has operated as Vinyl for the past six years but remains best known for its past life as Club de Mar, which opened in 1989 and was an iconic nightspot in the town for almost 30 years.Bosses have pledged to turn their attention to holding "large scale events" within the venue - utilising it instead as a "multi-purpose event space." In a statement on their Facebook page, Vinyl said: "It's with an incredibly heavy heart that we announce that Vinyl will be closing its doors as a nightclub with immediate effect."We have not made this decision lightly but due to the nature of the Statement of Licensing Policy set out by South Ayrshire Council Licensing Board, and the changing nature of nightlife in the post-covid era, it has become increasingly difficult to operate as a 'Nightclub'."Since the Licensing Board's Policy Statement does not permit a differential in hours and operations between the various types of licensed premises in our area, unlike most other towns and cities around Scotland, a stand-alone 'nightclub' premises is no longer viable in South Ayrshire. "We will therefore close immediately and undertake a transition to focus on