A Southampton nightclub has been banned from allowing entry to any more revellers after 2.30am because of the number of violent offences there.

Southampton City Council licence bosses ordered that clubbers not be allowed entry to the Rhino nightclub after 2.30am.

Partygoers can stay until 4am but Southampton City Council’s licensing committee decided further steps had to be taken.

Hampshire Police had originally planned to request that the Bedford Place club’s licence be revoked after realising a former club boss had failed to do what was necessary to prevent crime, public nuisance and protect children from harm.

They compiled a 110-page dossier outlining 99 incidents that had taken place in the past year in or around the nightclub, which has previously hosted famous DJs.

Representative of the Waterloo Terrace nightclub, Louis Weston, said many of the incidents were nothing to do with the nightclub.

“When you look at Rhino’s number of incidents, a fair proportion of them are positive matters that really don’t reflect in anyway upon the club,” Mr Weston said.

He outlined incidents logged by police as taking place at the pub which included drug takers being found on or nearby the premises and a member of the public approaching the club with a knife.

Mr Weston added that these were incidents where club staff acted in the public interest but were not related to the club.

In March 2010 hundreds of clubbers were forced to flee the dance floor after a fire broke out at the club after an arsonist, who had previously been barred, torched the building.

Police sergeant Simon Wood told the committee the number of incidents was nearly double those at a similar nearby club, which has double the capacity.

A change of management just a week before the complaint was handed to the city council saw that figure begin to drop.

The new manager, or designated premises supervisor, Stuart Bailey, said he had barred many customers for various incidents.

Sgt Wood said because of the change of management he was looking to reduce the hours of licence rather than revoke it.