September 28, 2000 9:00

SANKEYS SHAKES OFF SOAPY BUBBLE

Troubled [b]Manchester[/b] club gets back in the groove...

Notorious MANCHESTER club SANKEYS SOAP, the original host for regular club night BUGGED OUT, is set to re-open its doors this Friday (September 29).

The venue closed in June 1998 after becoming the focus of gangland violence and running out of cash following an expensive renovation.

A spokesperson for the club admitted it has had its share of troubles: "In 1998, due to the World Cup and lots of other factors, people stopped going clubbing in Manchester. A reporter did a story and dubbed it 'Gangchester', and basically this 'Gangchester' thing took the whole issue out of proportion. There are other cities including London where there's violence, but this put a lot of people off coming into Manchester and Sankey's Soap in particular."

"There were problems with the door, there were problems in the club. There were problems in Manchester in general. The Hagienda had closed... obviously that closed a year or so before, and all the problems transferred from the Hagienda to Sankeys...[Since then] there's been a clean-up on the part of the Council and the police."

In order to secure a licence, the club has installed high security measures, including using an out-of-town security firm on the door, adding CCTV outside and inside the venue, requiring body searches upon entry for males and females, as well as better lighting in and around the club.

The stars who will help relaunch the club this weekend include Friday night residents Woody and Mark Turner, with former Hagienda DJ Dave Haslam and Dean Wilson on Saturday. Guests lined up for the future include Groove Armada, Scratch Perverts, Ultimate BASE with Jim Masters and Derrick May, James Holroyd and Faze Action.