Senior fights £45,000 policing bill

Nightclub operator Ultimate Leisure is expected to tell Nottinghamshire police that it is to refuse to continue paying £45,000 a year for extra...

Nightclub operator Ultimate Leisure is expected to tell Nottinghamshire police that it is to refuse to continue paying £45,000 a year for extra officers outside its Coyote Wild bar in Mansfield while other operators refuse to stump up cash.

Ultimate chief executive Bob Senior said the amount Ultimate pays to Nottinghamshire police for one venue is roughly the same as that which the firm pays to police in Newcastle ­ where Ultimate owns six sites in the lively Bigg Market area.

Senior is furious that he is made to "hold the fort" while other operators pay nothing, and he fears the same thing could happen in Mansfield if he doesn't take a stand.

"It was only going to be a few months' experiment while I hold the fort, but two years down the line it's still only me.

"Although I'm pleased to be contributing, I simply can't afford £45,000 a year." It is understood Senior will offer a more modest £7,500 a year in Mansfield.

Ultimate was forced to accept the paid-for-policing scheme at Mansfield after Coyote Wild was given a 24-hour closure order following a number of reports of disorder there in January.