A NIGHTCLUB boss has told how his staff apprehended a clubber trying to smuggle a four-inch knife into their club - in the second incident in a month.

Tom Gowans, the general manager of Talk nightclub, in Lucy Road, Southend, praised police for their swift response after his door staff caught the man with the blade.

Mr Gowans, 31, from Southend said: “We had a customer who came into the club then left before coming back ten minutes later. Everybody who comes into the club has their ID scanned and is searched. On that search our door staff found a knife.

“It was a three to four-inch blade and didn’t look like something you would find in a kitchen. We confiscated the weapon, detained the individual and contacted Essex Police.

“They arrested the individual and took him and the knife away.

“The knife crime in Southend has been on the rise recently. Although the police have had their resources cut, it’s the good work of officers which is playing a big part in keeping Southend safe. By working together we look to provide the safest environment for our customers.”

It is the second time that an individual has been caught trying to take a knife into the club in the last month.

Paolo Bala, 20, was recently caught trying to take a blade into the club and was later found to be wanted on suspicion of a burglary in Bournemouth Park Road in April. He was jailed for four months for each offence, suspended for 18 months, to run consecutively.

Of the latest incident an Essex Police spokesman said: “A man has been charged with possession of a knife in a public place following an incident at Talk nightclub in Lucy Road, Southend, on June 2.

“James Ferrier, 31, of Argyll Road, Westcliff, was arrested following a search by club security at 2am. He has been released on bail to appear at Southend Magistrates Court on July 3.”