BASINGSTOKE nightclub Wonderland will open for longer hours after it was granted a licence extension.

The venue, in Churchill Way, will be able to sell alcohol until 4am, with a closing time of 4.30am, on Friday, Saturdays and all public holidays. It can currently sell alcohol until 3am on Friday and 2.30am on Saturday.

At Monday’s licensing sub-committee meeting at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Lisa Sharkey, representing NoSaints, which runs the nightclub, said the later hours would bring the venue in line with other bars in the town.

She said: “It is also about offering the customers what they want. At the moment, they do go on to other places once they have left us. As a thriving business, we have to offer the people what they want.”

The meeting heard there were no objections to the licence extension from the police or local residents.

Eastrop councillor Gavin James said his concern was for people who live within earshot of the nightclub, such as at Crown Heights, in Alencon Link, and he argued for a smaller licence extension.

He urged the committee: “Take a slow approach and allow an extra half-hour, and see how that works. “The extension frightens me because once you let the cat out of the box, it’s very difficult to get it back in again.”

The three-man panel, chaired by Cllr Paul Frankum, took 10 minutes to grant the licence application.