FIRE-EATERS, stilt-walkers, a magician and a human robot entertained hundreds of revellers at a VIP evening at a new nightclub in Chester-le-Street.
Staff passed around strawberries, canaps and champagne cocktails to police, councillors and business people at Studio on Thursday.
The £2.2m Vimac Leisure bar and nightclub created 50 jobs in the north Durham market town.
The new venue has two self-contained floors, each with a bar, dance area, plasma screens and seating booths.
Altered lighting effects and differing music policy clearly define each level, highlighted by DJs playing live on both floors.
Ross Gill, the assistant manager at the nightclub, says: "There's been a real buzz around town for weeks about our new venue and the excitement's got even greater since we opened. We were packed out to capacity over our opening night last weekend and expect to be attracting visitors from right across the region."
The new venue, which is the first premises with a late licence to open in the County Durham town in more than 20 years, is the company's first purpose-built venue and is the fifth Studio club in the company's growing nationwide chain.
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