THE owner of Southampton superclub Oceana is to call in the administrators after banks pulled the plug on the nightclub operator.

The decision has put 3,000 full and part time jobs at Luminar's 75 clubs at risk. Shares in the group have been suspended.

Luminar's lenders - Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland - told the group they would not extend a recent period of leniency due to end today, which will leave the firm in breach of covenants.

The UK's biggest nightclub operator has suffered amid the financial gloom as its core market of 18 to 24-year-olds has been hit by high levels of youth unemployment.

It recorded losses of £198 million in the year to the end of February as sales dropped by 19 per cent to £137 million.

Its lenders threw it a lifeline in May when they agreed to waive banking covenants on a temporary basis to allow the business time to turn itself around. This period of leniency was extended in August but expires today.

The group had been trying to drum up more business by diversifying its offer, including holding Jongleurs comedy nights and introducing WooWoo cocktail bars next to its clubs, including Oceana in Southampton.

The club, in West Quay Road, opened in 2008 as one of the biggest clubs in Europe, with a capacity of 4,000. It is continuing to trade and will open as normal tonight while potential buyers are sought for the company.

The Milton Keynes-based group recently put itself up for sale in an attempt to secure its future. But it only received offers for part of the business and said these were not sufficient to generate returns for shareholders.

Luminar recently in the headlines after a 22-year-old student was killed in a crush at its Lava & Ignite club in Northampton.