Jungle Nightclub in Worthing has bid for extended opening hours approved

The club on 31 Chatsworth Road, will be able to open until 3:30 am the following morning of Friday and Saturday night, with alcohol sales until 3:10 am and last entry at 2:30 am – late night refreshments and regulated entertainment will match opening hours.

The club currently opens from 10:30pm on Friday and Sunday night, and the later opening hours will allow it to stay open 40 minutes longer on Fridays and 10 minutes longer on Saturdays.

Consultant to the club’s new owners, Jamie Sim, said they wanted longer opening hours due to most business only happening after midnight to 1am, most nights giving them currently two hours to turn a profit.

He noted Worthing’s clubs need to change to compete with Brighton, as many pubs in Worthing are closed by 2am leaving few places to go for patrons if clubs in town close only an hour or hour and a half afterwards – with many clubs in Brighton closing five or six am.

He said part of the management’s emphasis was on the health and wellbeing of women, with Jungle Nightclub creating a safe space for women and other patrons, hiring female door and bar staff to increase approachability of staff, and encouraging responsible drinking.

Those practices were a compelling reason for members of the licensing and control sub-committee to grant the extended premises hours, at a meeting on August 3, as members and West Sussex County Council Health officers, were concerned about women’s health and wellbeing.

The club’s initial application was for opening hours until 4:30 am, to which Sussex Police and one Worthing resident objected – with the former soon withdrawing that objection following mediation with the club and the council to secure the current opening hours.

Now official opening hours are on Fridays and Saturdays from 10pm to 3am and 3:30am the following morning, respectively – found on the nightclub’s website.

Angel’s Bar and Nightclub on 10 High Street in Worthing, is also applying for extended hours at licensing committee meeting on August 24, recently having a temporary event notice for longer hours on the upcoming bank holiday refused.