Shootings in nightclubs fall after closure threat

Gun crime in London's nightclubs has fallen sharply after police threatened to close premises which failed to improve security.

Shootings dropped from 32 in a six- month period between April and September last year to just five in the same period this year, after the introduction of a registration scheme set up by the Met's Clubs and Vice Unit.

So far 200 clubs have joined the scheme. They agree to inform officers of promotional events and the bands and DJs who are taking part.

Chief Superintendent Richard Martin, the head of Clubs and Vice, said: "We are able to establish whether the DJs they are using have been involved in any previous issues which might give us cause for concern.

"This allows us to put in some early intervention and work with the clubs."

Police visit clubs, often on a covert basis. Those which cause concern are asked to improve security or change their line-up. They could also face closure.

Gun crime in nightclubs remains a major concern in the capital.

Last week a 23-year-old man was jailed for life for the fatal shooting of former British boxing champion James Oyebola, 46, after an argument in a bar in Fulham in July last year.