A Preston social club which has caused nationwide outrage for hosting a ‘cage fight’ featuring children as young as 8 will be investigated by council chiefs.
The Greenlands Labour Club in Ribbleton will have its licence reviewed after the deputy leader of Preston City Council question why the club had children on the premises.
The martial arts event at the club, which was posted on YouTube, shows children grappling infront of an audience – and has drawn scrorn from national newspapers and politicians since it was reported by the Lancashire Evening Post earlier this week.
Councillor John Swindells, deputy leader of the council, said: “I, like many other people, am appalled by the incident of cage fighting involving children taking place in Preston. I am really concerned about the potential of harm to the children who were as young as 8 years old. They were fighting in front of adults at an adult cage fighting event.”
Cllr Swindells said the licence conditions state children should not be on the premises beyond 6pm and said “I cannot just ignore or condone this cage fighting event involving children taking place in our city.”
He continued: “I am not against cage fighting for adults and the Greenlands Labour Club is a valuable and important community facility.
“However, I would ask Greenlands Labour Club not to put on any future cage fighting events involving children. I will certainly be asking the licensing committee to tighten the conditions so that such events involving children are not allowed to happen in Preston.”
The venues licence will now be formally reviewed by councillor officers to see if there is a case to answer.
Lancashire Police confirmed in a statement this morning they would not be investigating the event.
A Facebook poll on Blog Preston’s fan page today showed our readers supported the club, with all of them saying “It’s a sport and it’s good to have children involved.”
What do you think? Do you back the club or is Cllr Swindells right to launch a review? Let us know in the comments below