A GROUP of nightclubs including Bournemouth venue Cameo are appealing to the government to save their sector from “collapse”.

A consortium including the Night Time Industries Association wants clubs to be allowed to open with anti-Covid measures in place.

The association says 58 per cent of businesses in the night time economy fear they will not survive for more than another two months without more government support – putting an estimated 754,000 jobs at risk.

Seventy-one per cent of the businesses surveyed said they were already set to make more than half their workers redundant in a matter of weeks.

Michael Kill, the association’s chief executive, said: “These results feel like the final catastrophic blow to the night-time economy, which employs 1.3 million people in the UK and contributes £66bn to the UK economy per annum. Near enough every single business is on a dangerous cliff edge. This is the darkest of days for the night-time economy.”

The association says the night time economy is one of the few sectors without any clear guidance from government on when and how it can reopen.

It has produced a report, backed by the Institute of Occupational Medicine, on what can be done to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

Measures include ID scans and temperature checks on entry, crowd control by security staff, contactless payments, sophisticated ventilation systems, social distancing and frequent high-intensity cleaning.

The majority of late night operators have not qualified for any grants, bounce back loans or business interruption loans and have had no help with rents, the association said.

Peter Marks, chief executive of the Deltic Group – the UK’s largest operator of late night bars and clubs, and owner of Cameo, in Fir Vale Road – said: “The late night leisure sector, a sector which employs tens of thousands across the UK, is at risk of collapse if the government does not act now - it is that simple. We need a clear reopening plan, or at the very least fit-for-purpose financial assistance.”

The government has said: “We hope to continue to phase reopening further businesses as soon as possible, and will work with local councils which have a high prevalence of COVID-19 to consider local measures and guidance reflecting where further business openings could be delayed.”