THE controversial Circulation Club was set to reopen its doors in Burnley today - as its new owner vowed the fight was still on to win a public entertainment licence.

The venue, once said to be the best club in town, has been closed for six years but has had a £100,000 cash injection from property developer Ray Harrison. He hopes to run it as a nightspot for grown-up clubbers over 35.

Burnley Council's licensing committee refused the premises a public entertainment licence on March 9 but today it will open as a pub. It has a licence every day of the week from 11am until 11pm.

And while mature revellers may not be able to boogie the night away to John Travolta just yet they may find love instead - speed dating is just one of the attractions manager Gary Pollard has up his sleeve.

The Circ was hugely popular in the 1980s but after it had been open a few years got a reputation for trouble.

Some local residents objected to the public entertainment licence for the born-again club but Mr Harrison and his business partner are appealing the council's decision before Pennine licensing magistrates.

If the justices also turn down the application, he says he will take his appeal to the Crown Court - but he insists the residents are the Circ's top priority.

Mr Harrison, who wants the club to be a step back in time with 60s, 70s and 80s music and tribute bands from those eras, said he had been aggrieved and disappointed with the council's decision.

He said: "At the hearing it was all about how the club had had a controversial and troublesome past - and the majority of newspaper articles seem to look at it on the downside.

"I believe the Circulation is beneficial to the town as well as the surrounding regeneration area.

"In its heyday, the club was well run and the best in Burnley and that is what we are aiming to achieve when we appeal."

Mr Harrison, who has enlisted top barrister John Jackson to fight the club's cause, said he and his business partner were looking into the possibility of an alternative entrance/exit for the premises.

Himself a keen regular at The Circ back in the "good old days", Mr Harrison said the premises would be opening as a pub with a "softly, softly, laid-back approach" and would have a "relaxed retro mode".

Events such as private meetings, pool tournaments and speed dating were in the pipeline, he added.

The new owner went on: "We are hoping to attract people in their 40s, 50s and 60s. It is the people in this age group who have shown considerable interest and support in the reopening of the venue.

"The majority of pubs in the area have expressed their disappointment that the council refused to grant the public entertainment licence."

He added other possibilities for The Circulation were opening it as a private members' club and also with an occasional licence, which would attract well-known bands to perform at the club.