A nightclub has won an appeal to stay open until 3am at weekends.

Clubbers can dance until 3am after magistrates overturned a council decision to restrict opening hours at Braintree High Street club Snows.

Braintree Council rejected plans for the club to stay open an hour longer on Fridays and Saturdays.

It said the proposals - which did not include an extension of the nightclub's liquor licence - would add to late-night noise in the town centre, disturb homeowners and lead to other nightspots wanting longer hours.

But Snows boss David Wightman challenged the decision, which he said was "an easy cop-out", and on Tuesday won on appeal at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court.

The court heard previously when Snows had been given special permission to open until 4am there had been no trouble or police complaints.

Mr Wightman said: "There is no benefit except for Braintree itself. It is going to cost me more money to pay staff to stay open.

"Most of the problems happen at 11pm and midnight when the youngsters get turfed out of the pubs. We're trying to do a respectable thing here and would like a chance to prove that."

He said he had sympathy with residents but it was important to tackle the problem, not just shut down.

David Whipps, for Braintree Council, said a 3am extension would lead to people gathering in the town centre "later than it was considered respectable".

But chairman of the bench Hilary Baines said the appeal would be allowed, saying: "Mr Wightman runs a respectable and well-ordered club. We do not feel this would cause a precedent because each application would be considered on its merits."

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