POLICE are demanding tough action against a popular riverside nightclub they claim is selling “quaddies” to drunken students, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Klute was where Durham University student Sope Peters had told friends he would be drinking before he drowned in October 2013 – the first of three students to die in the River Wear in the following 15 months.

Now the Echo has learned Durham Police wants “strong action” against the venue.

Chief Constable Mike Barton, who previously said it was ludicrous to demand more police patrols to protect the “bright young things”, has asked Durham County Council to review Klute’s alcohol licence.

In a written witness statement, Sergeant Tim Robson, from the force’s Alcohol Harm Reduction Unit, calls for strong action and “rigorous conditions to prevent drunkenness”.

He says Klute served “quaddies”, two double vodkas with mixers bought together and immediately mixed together, during Freshers’ Week and its operators, Tokyo Industries, have been reluctant to stop their sale, despite his repeated requests.

Tokyo Industries did not respond to the Echo’s request for comment.

A public consultation on the police’s application has now begun, and runs until Thursday, April 30. A council licensing committee will then decide what action to take, by no later than Monday, June 1.

Durham’s City Safety Group has been working to protect students and encourage responsible drinking following the deaths of Sope Peters and his fellow Durham University students Luke Pearce and Euan Coulthard.

Three students have also been rescued from the Wear in recent months.

A drunk tank has opened, nightbus and taxi services have been introduced and a student-led riverside angels support scheme has been launched.

Pub door breath tests are to be piloted and an independent review of riverside safety by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) will be published shortly.

Terry Collins, chair of the City Safety Group, said: “We believe the licensed trade has a crucial role to play in keeping the public safe and that the vast majority of licensees do serve alcohol in a safe and sensible way.

“Where they do not we will support calls for action to be taken.”

In his statement, Sgt Robson says Klute failed to achieve Best Bar None status for responsible premises last July but when at a meeting in August he asked club bosses to stop serving quaddies they “expressed their reluctance”.

After quaddies were sold during Freshers’ Week in October, Sgt Robson says, he protested again.

The officer then visited Klute on Friday, January 30, and found “heavily intoxicated” students, one man waiting to pay for ten Jagerbombs, another buying a quaddie for £4.80, a woman so drunk her head was “rolling” and she needed help to get home and three women all drunk, one of whom claimed to have drunk two quaddies and then collapsed.

To comment on the police application, visit durham.gov.uk/article/2136