THE public and press have been thrown out of a "public" meeting to discuss the future of a nightclub's licence, following a request by its lawyers.

The move came this afternoon as councillors met to discuss whether to continue to suspend the licence of Club One9Five following a mass brawl outside its premises last weekend, in which eight people were stabbed.

The Guardian challenged the ruling in court, arguing it was in the public interest of the people of Epping for the ruling to be heard by our reporter.

Lawyers for the nightclub argued it was not in the public interest to hear the evidence and see CCTV footage of the brawl, as it would be prejudicial for any up and coming court cases - a view the Guardian disputes.

Newspapers are banned by law from publishing potentially prejudicial information, but that does not mean they can be excluded from such meetings.

Legal teams for the police decided to side with the nightclub, and, after a hurried discussion among the councillors present, the announcement was made that the ENTIRE hearing would be held in secret - not just disputed sections such as CCTV clips.

The Guardian is to take further legal action against the ruling.

It comes after council documents revealed more than 100 people had been involved in the fighting, with eight stabbed.

The incident was the 47th alleged to have happened over the past 12 months in or outside the nightspot.

The information only came to light in papers published online by the district council.

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