A TOWN centre nightclub has had its licence suspended after a man had his face slashed with a knife.

Police were called to V Club in Exeter Road, Bournemouth, at 1.37am on Tuesday by the ambulance service following reports of an assault.

The man, a 29-year-old from Bournemouth, was taken to Poole Hospital.

A friend of the man told the Daily Echo that he suffered a serious facial injury and was in hospital into Wednesday after having surgery to repair the damage.

It is believed that the wound was inflicted by a knife. It is also thought that two other people in the group suffered less serious knife injuries.

In the wake of the incident Dorset Police pressed for an urgent review of the club's licence, which took place on Tuesday afternoon.

Police said that they believed “the premises was associated with serious crime”.

That led to the council's licensing sub-committee suspending its licence immediately.

Yesterday that decision was extended until March 7 while enquiries into the incident continue.

It means the club will have to remain shut until at least then.

Cllr Andrew Morgan, chairman of the Licensing Board, said: “In light of the seriousness of the alleged incident, the licence for V remains suspended pending a full review on March 7, 2013.

“In the meantime Dorset Police will continue their investigations.”

The sub-committee said it took the decision to prevent serious crime occurring.

The minutes from the first hearing added: “The sub-committee considered that there was a lack of control at the premises and those managing the premises had not taken their management responsibilities seriously and removing the designated premises supervisor would not resolve this.”

The meeting also heard that “Dorset Police had stated that they had lost all confidence in the premises and they could not mitigate by policing the lack of control that was apparent and as a consequence there was an ongoing risk to public safety.”

The club is owned by Vee Assets Ltd, to which businessman Richard Carr has acted as a consultant.

The Daily Echo made attempts to contact the club yesterday but did not receive a response. It was closed and the doors chained up when the Echo visited.

As the paper went to press, its website and social media pages were still promoting an event on Friday evening.

Madalena Rego, a 20-year-old student, said: “I'm not surprised, my experience there wasn't very good. The organisation of the place wasn't very good.”

Genna  Delahunty, 22, said: “That doesn't surprise me at all. I tend not to go there because you hear things. It's not my scene, I never think of going there and it seems to be getting reguarlyl shut down.”

Emily Flynn, 19, said: “Everyone who goes there I don't normally mix with. It doesn't surprise me, but it's not the owners' fault, it's people who go there and cause trouble.”

Police said a 30-year-old Bournemouth man was arrested following the incident and has been released on bail while enquiries continue.