Crime-hit Pulse nightclub in Brierley Hill could become community church

The Angel Organisation has applied to convert Pulse nightclub, in Dudley Road, Brierley Hill, which has stood empty since it closed in 2014 after its licence was revoked.

The club shut after councillors were told customers had ties to two infamous warring drugs gangs, the Johnson Crew and the Burger Bar Boys.

Prior to its closure, shots were fired outside the premises and four people were stabbed in two separate knife incidents.

Asking for its licence to be revoked police said the club had become closely linked with organised crime.

In 2015, Taniyha Beckford, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life after a shooting outside the venue.

A court heard Beckford sprayed a car with bullets as his intended victim sat behind the driver’s wheel while waiting outside the club.

The venue had been put on the market last year for £295,000.

From around 2000 it became a night club, operating as Eclipse, Oxygen and The Deep, which closed in 2008.

It revived as Pulse nightclub in 2011 but closed three years later.

Prior to being a nightclub it was the famous Danilo cinema.

It was opened by singer and ukulele player George Formby in 1936.

A new planning application by the Angel Foundation could transform the ex-club and cinema into a place of worship.

Along with holding religious services, developers also asking permission to use the run-down building as a community centre hosting educational classes, seminars and exhibitions.

Agents for the developers say it could hold up to 700 people, adding: “The proposed use will not only rejuvenate the building with a stable use for its existing layout but will contribute to the community and local businesses.”

Planning offers will now draw up a report to Dudley Council’s development control committee before the application goes to councillors for a final decision.

The Angel Foundation has been contacted for comment.