Club Chemistry has failed in its bid to stay open until 6am on weekends.

The application by the nightspot in Station Road East was decided by Canterbury City Council’s three-man licensing committee today.

The club's current licence, which allows bar staff to serve alcohol until 4am at weekends with 30 minutes drinking up time, remains in place.

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The club is managed by Louise Jones, elected as a city councillor to Barton ward in May, and is owned by the company Jones’s Nightclubs.

“Club Chemistry is a business. We understand that.But what it does is inflict on the local community a heavy price for its own profit.” - resident John Ellaby

Set over three floors and formerly known as The Bizz, The Works and Baa Bars, it is Canterbury’s biggest nightclub.

The application provoked opposition as well as winning support.

John Ellaby, of the St Mildred's Area Community Society, said: “Club Chemistry is a business. We understand that.

"But what it does is inflict on the local community a heavy price for its own profit.

“In earlier days the club closed earlier. The argument for later opening sold was that it will be better for locals because of a gradual dispersal.

“All it does is prolong the aggravation.

“We are not in a balanced argument. We are the sufferers. They are the people representing the inflictors of the agony."

Sarah Walter, of the Wincheap Society, also said: “My family and I are waking up once or twice a week.

"I hear what police are saying, that they don’t get complaints, but you don’t ring the police every time you’re woken up by noisy people outside.

“I urge you not to accept this because my family’s life will be made a misery. I don’t accept this argument that if people leave at 6am they will leave quietly. They won’t.”

But among those backing the application was Lansdown Road resident and student Dave Cocozza.

He has previously said: “Extending the opening hours is a positive move, which will give a much-needed boost to the local economy.

“Canterbury is in dire need of a boost to its night-time economy. The success of our city depends on the funds that the entertainment sector brings in.”

And Tilly Chilton, who has lived in Castle Street, said: “While I do hear people walking past, I accept that if I want to live in the city centre there will be some noise.

"I think the application will reduce the impact of noise because when they finish at 6am, it will blend into the noise from bin collections and street cleaners.”