A SOUTHAMPTON nightclub has escaped closure despite two people being stabbed outside the venue.

Details of the incident were revealed when the owners of Junk faced council chiefs yesterday after police urged the authority to consider revoking the London Road club's licence.

At the eleventh hour Hampshire Constabulary’s licensing team changed their application to reducing its hours and adding a number of new conditions.

Junk was ordered to instead install a large metal detecting arch at the entrance and close two hours earlier than the current closing time of 4am – a move which nightclub bosses say could threaten its future.

The club's promoter said it would be appealing the decision.

Hampshire Constabulary had called the review after the stabbing on January 22, which police say began after fighting broke out in its 'back bar' at about 3.45am that involved up to 30 people.

Police say it left a man with head injuries, while further fighting broke out on the street after door staff intervened.

It was at that point someone was stabbed outside the club and a second man also received knife wounds nearby.

In their report police said 38 incidents including 23 assaults and four drug offences were recorded there between January 2015 and March this year.

But before yesterday’s meeting police and the club’s management held last-minute talks and Hampshire Constabulary’s licensing team changed their application from one of revoking the licence, to reducing its hours and adding a number of new conditions.

At the city council licensing committee hearing Paul Merry, speaking on behalf of the Junk management, described the incident as a “one-off” and said one of the men suspected of the stabbings as a “London gang member”.

Saying “we were all horrified” by the stabbings, Mr Merry said: “We just could not survive if we have to scale our hours back to 2am. The venue would not be viable.”

The hearing heard that the manager on duty at the time had let in the suspect as he was with two people he knew, but they were told the manager no longer worked at Junk after the incident.

The committee eventually decided to reduce closing time to 2am and last entries to 12.30am, while adding a number of conditions including the new arch which may be the first of its kind in the city.

Chairman Matt Tucker described the stabbing incident as “disgraceful”, and said the venue had been close to having its licence revoked.

He warned the venue that any future incidents would place it in “extreme jeopardy”.

After the hearing club promotions manager Luca Pilato said that while the management were “extremely pleased” to have kept the licence, they were “disappointed” in the reduction of opening hours “given our positive work with police and licensing over the past year”.

Thanking the thousands of people who had supported the club since the incident, he added: “we are appealing this decision and until then it’s business as normal”.