DEVELOPERS have insisted a planned new nightclub in Wantage’s former Regent Cinema will not bring more rowdies to the town centre.

H&H Entertainment has applied to convert the Newbury Street cinema into a club, named Shush, and hopes to keep it open until 3am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

But local brothers-in-law Steve Head and Gary Howe, who run the company, said it would be a community venue, and not a source for late-night trouble.

Mr Howe said: “What we are certainly not going to be is a boom, boom place for young people to come along and get drunk and cause lots of problems.

“That is the last thing we want for the community and for the business.”

If the district council approves the plans, the 2,000 square foot Regent Cinema, which has been empty for five years, would be able to hold between 500 and 700 people, and offer live music, dance, comedy, charity events, boxing and talent shows.

The business partners said building work had already started and Shush should be open by Christmas.

Mr Head said: “We are proposing a careful restoration of the existing building, retaining the history and heritage of the cinema.

“Our aim is to offer something for everyone and to put the Regent back at the heart of Wantage life.

“And we are hoping people will embrace it because it has been empty for so long and because our business is so varied.

“The cinema business was just unsustainable in Wantage.”

Town councillor Patrick O’Leary hailed the work as “another stage along the road of Wantage’s revival.”

He said: “It is great to know that local people are willing to do something with it.”

Tim Weekes, of the Friends of Wantage Cinema, said he was disappointed the cinema would not reopen, but added: “The fact that someone is willing to help in the provision of entertainment in the town can only be commended and supported.”

District councillors welcomed the opening of a community venue, but warned that a new late-licensed premises carried its own risks.

Lib Dem Joyce Hutchinson said: “It is difficult. I can see young people wanting this, but I think we have enough licensed areas that are not making huge profits.

“Can a town our size carry another one?”

And Conservative John Morgan added: “I am not against a new venue for the community, but another late night drinking venue? Police are always out here on a Friday and Saturday night.”

Insp John Turner said Thames Valley Police would work with the new venue to tackle any crime and disorder.

An application to turn the cinema into flats two years ago was rejected after councillors hoped it could still operate as a cinema.