THE owner of Bury's newest nightclub has praised his staff for protecting revellers from a violent gang.

Mr Kevin Clarke and his team of door staff at Club NV, in Silver Street, managed to fend off attackers, some using bottles as weapons, and dispersed the 20-strong group of troublemakers during an incident at 3.30am on July 7.

The owner and two employees were injured in the fracas, but staff were commended for keeping calm in a volatile situation.

"They dealt with this situation brilliantly," said Mr Clarke (45). "The place was full and not only did we manage to stop any of our guests from getting caught up in it, we also managed to make sure there would be no further incidents by taking the decision to close the club nearly an hour early."

Describing what happened, he said: "The troublemakers tried to get in in a big group. We turned them away, but they returned in dribs and drabs. Once inside we were keeping a close eye on them and even changed the music from r&b to cheesy pop so it would tone down the atmosphere.

"Then an argument broke out so we ejected the culprit. When we were outside, he hit me over the head with a bottle and two of my staff were attacked too. I was quite shocked. It's never happened before in all my years of managing clubs. We reacted quickly and tried to restrain the lad and his friends and within a few minutes we had dispersed them, calmed things down and called the police."

He added: "I think people appreciated our efforts. You only had to look at the queue the night after to see it didn't put people off and that people trust us - we had to turn more than 40 people away because it was so busy."

Mr Clarke has almost ten years' experience managing clubs in the town, including Temptations and Ronnie's, and is the head of Bury Pubwatch, which he helped to launch eight years ago.

He launched Club NV on June 29 and he says it has received rave reviews in the frst few weeks. Police, too, said they had not been called to the venue before the July 7 incident.

The club boasts the latest security features - a £3,000 CCTV system, a metal detector at the entrance and a £1,000 radio system that allows bar door staff and managers to keep in touch as the night goes on.

But Mr Clarke said he believed the incident could have been avoided if other venues had kept him informed of potential trouble. At 1.30am, police were told by staff monitoring the town's CCTV system that windows had been smashed at the nearby Showboat pub, in Clerke Street. Mr Clarke said he believed those responsible then came to Club NV intent on causing more trouble. He said: "If those people who had witnessed the incident who worked for various bars had used the Pubwatch radios to let us know what had happened and who was involved, we would have taken action to stop those involved getting in."

However, the Showboat and Sol Viva said they did not witness the incident and so could not get descriptions of those involved. Police are keen to hear from anyone who saw either of the two incidents. Witnesses are urged to call Bury CID on (0161) 856 8150.