A TOWN centre nightclub has successfully reopened following a licensing battle.

Ikonic Nightclub, in Nelson Square opened its doors last Thursday, for the first time since New Year's Eve.

More than 800 people bought tickets for the launch event - 'Discoland - Just Jaxx'.

The night was inspired by 'Thursday Night Jaxx', which used to be held in Ikon before its closure in 2012.

The event included an appearance by clubland legend Kelly Llorenna, Blackout Crew MC Jordan Cover and Irish DJ Micky Modelle.

Promoter Alan Shacklady was a resident DJ at Jaxx and he said he organised the event to "bring back a huge night of nostalgia" to Bolton.

He said: "As the owner of Discoland and a former Jaxx resident DJ I wanted to combine the two and bring back a huge night of nostalgia for as many of them people and some new ones as I could.

"The interest in the event was crazy, and over 60 per cent of tickets were purchased by people over 30 which was exactly the target audience I had hoped for.

"Feedback has been fantastic, even the people that had to queue outside and around the block were still in good spirits because they stated that it reminded them of a proper Easter Thursday in Bolton from years gone by."

Licensing issues at Ikonic Nightclub had previously prevented it from opening permanently with Temporary Event Notices granted by Bolton Council for a number of one-off events.

In a licensing hearing last month, the club was told it would be allowed to open under a number of conditions including including no under-18s events or live sporting events.

Electronic ID scanners have also been installed at the club, which Mr Shacklady believes puts them "streets ahead".

He added: "The stressful side of the promotion was obviously the licensing issues the venue has had, but thanks to a lot of hard work from Dean and his team they got there in the end.

"Also with the new ID Scanners now in place, they are now streets ahead in terms of customer safety

"I am so happy with the end result, it was so much more than I could have ever expected."

"I am now starting to set out my plans for the next event in August

Posting on their official Facebook page after the event, Ikonic Nightclub wrote: "Wow Bolton we were not expecting that!

"What a night rammed from start to finish

"Brilliant to see all our old friends from years gone by and catch up

"Well done to Discoland! Let’s do it again!"