NIGHTCLUB bosses and licensing experts have called for a review of the red tape "suffocating" the sector and a change in opening hours to boost business.

The number of nightclubs in the UK has dropped from 3,144 to 1,733 in a decade, with former stalwart venues such as The Arches in Glasgow and The Venue in Edinburgh disappearing.

There are now calls for licensing laws to be overhauled to recognise the role played by long-established clubs and support their future.

Tommy Sheppard is the Edinburgh East MP who founded The Stand comedy clubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

He believes nightclubs play an important social role and that licensing rules should be reviewed.

Mr Sheppard said: “We always need to take a look around and see if we have gone too far and need to try and get the ship back on an even keel."

“Leisure patterns change and drinking patterns change so we need to look at that.

“Most places where people sell liquor must also have a restaurant or venue.”

He also said a reduction in choice of social venues could create health issues through people drinking greater amounts more cheaply at home.

While at home they can drink unchecked, while in pubs and clubs “we are putting people in a place where they are effectively using controlled drugs (alcohol) but in a responsible way”.

The Arches nightclub closed last June after Glasgow Licensing Board removed its entertainment licence.

This came after pressure from Police Scotland following the drugs-related death of Regane MacColl, 17, in 2014.

The Herald:

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The Arches’ founder Andy Arnold, who is now artistic director at the Tron Theatre, has said the mothballed building should be put to community use rather than sitting empty.

In Edinburgh The Picture House on Lothian Road was lost and an earlier closure was The Venue in Calton Road, where the Stone Roses played twice.

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers said that licensing laws and crime policies as well as the smoking ban are among the factors involved.

Some licensees claimed a move to change the laws so that there was no longer a distinction made between pubs and nightclubs was also damaging, while neighbours’ complaints were an issue in some cases.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive, said: “Our nightclubs are being suffocated by overly restrictive planning laws and tax levies.

“Surely part of the appeal of urban living are the nearby pubs, bars, restaurants and nightclubs where you can meet your mates.

"However, new town centre residential developments mean people can complain about noise from often long-established venues and licences can be restricted or revoked.”

Paul Waterson, chief executive of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said there should be a change in licensing hours so pubs do not compete with clubs.

He said: “That’s what’s killing the nightclub.

“It’s a free for all. Who wants to pay to get into a club when you can go to a pub for free, but if you don’t have your door money how do you spend on safety measure like door staff?”

READ MORE: The Arches plays a vital role in Scottish culture and must be protected

He said pubs should open from 11am until 1am and nightclubs from 9pm to 3am.

Mr Waterson added: “Things have changed.”

Neil Cooper, Herald critic, columnist and Edinburgh-based arts commentator, said: “While the so-called death of the nightclub has been over-estimated somewhat, it’s fair to say that clubs are evolving with a wider culture they are part of.

“With encroaching gentrification on one hand, and the dead hand of officialdom that ensures that club managers must jump through bureaucratic hoops to be allowed to exist at all on the other, it might appear harder now than ever before for clubs of all shades, shapes and sizes to survive.”