SOME of Bournemouth’s struggling late night venues have received no emergency money from the council after being told they were not officially nightclubs.

Halo and Lost Paradise – both of which market themselves as clubs – were told they were not rated as nightclubs, as was the late night bar Aruba.

Industry figures have warned they will have to start laying off staff if they cannot find a way of trading profitably.

Ty Temel, who runs Halo, has already said he will have to make all his staff redundant if he cannot find a way to trade profitably under the government’s 10pm curfew when the furlough scheme ends next month. That would put more than 50 people out of work.

“Every night we’re open, we’re trading at a loss,” he said.

“I would like some support for the night time economy and mainly our staff. I would like some recognition for the night time economy and what we bring to the town.

“Think of all the people that are going to be unemployed.”

BCP Council was given £4.3million from government to distribute to businesses that were suffering under the impact of the coronavirus.

The first phase of grants was targeted at businesses with a rateable value, or property costs, of less than £51,000, ruling out many clubs and bars.

The second round of grants could be claimed by businesses with property costs of up to £100,000, but the council says this only applied if the businesses were forbidden to trade by government.

It said the businesses concerned were not banned from trading and some of them had opened.

Andy Price, who runs Aruba and West Beach on council premises, said his business had missed out because its rateable value was too high.

He said most of Aruba’s trade was as a late night bar and it would be severely hit by the 10pm curfew. “We’re trying to make it as fun as possible as early as possible, with a brunch offer,” he said.

“July and August will not be enough to get us through six months of really seriously restricted trade.”

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “The phase two scheme included a local priority for businesses with a rateable value between £51,000 and £100,000 who were subject to closure and prevented from trading by government regulations after July 25.

“In these specific cases Aruba exceeded the £51,000 threshold and did not meet the exception for businesses with a rateable value between £51,000 and £100,000. They did not request a review of the decision.

“Halo’s rateable value for St Andrew’s Church in Bournemouth is £103,000. It therefore exceeded the £100,000 limit.

“Both properties are shown in the rating list as restaurant and premises. Neither have been rated as a nightclub.

“We continue to lobby government for more support for our local businesses.’’