Manchester nightclub G-A-Y has announced its legal challenge against the 10pm curfew has been rejected.
In an update on proceedings, the bar said the court refused it permission for the case to go ahead, based on papers submitted by G-A-Y and the government.
However, the nightclub owner said there was “still a chance” for its lawyers “to argue before a judge why the case should be allowed to go ahead and for a judge to make a different decision”.
“This can happen so we have decided not to give up.”
Michael Kill, Night Time Industries Association CEO, said: “We are disappointed with the initial decision from the Court, but feel very strongly that the case that the G-A-Y Legal team has presented is the right argument, and that it is one that a Court needs to hear.
“At present we are still not satisfied that we have received anything that even remotely substantiates the supposed benefits of the 10pm curfew.”
The nightclub’s owner announced it was launching a legal challenge over the curfew on October 5.
The nightclub said: “Knowing that even when these venues can reopen they will continue to make losses because of the curfew is heartbreaking, especially when we can see no good reason for it to protect customers and the public.
“All it is doing is putting hospitality out of business, and encouraging people to continue their evening after 10pm at private residences without all of the Covid-secure measures venues like ours have in place.”
Since it launched the legal challenge, the tier system has been introduced with more protective measures announced, meaning venues including G-A-Y have been forced to close.
The owners said it has instructed their lawyers to renew the application for the court’s permission to go ahead.
It will instead be arguing for permission at an oral hearing, they said.
“We still haven’t seen evidence that comes close to justifying the curfew. If the Government had something convincing we would have hoped to have seen it by now. It doesn’t.”
If the nightclub loses the oral ‘renewal’ hearing, it said it’s “game over” as far as court action is concerned.
“However, if we win it then we get to go to a full court hearing and we get to fight for hospitality and removal of the nonsensical 10pm curfew.”
