BLACKBURN'S biggest and most well-known town centre nightspot has closed, just six weeks after being re-launched.

Owner Peter Clarke said he had pulled the plug on Heaven and Hell, recently re-named The Cav, because new licensing laws allowing pubs to open longer had affected trade.

But he said the venue was making a loss and it's viability had also been hampered by its location on top of Lord Square, which he branded a "toilet."

Councillors hit back said that Blackburn-born Mr Clarke was well aware of Lord Square's appearance when he took over the club in August 2004 as it had been a disgrace for a long time.

They said it should improve when the delayed £60million revamp of the shopping centre, scheduled for autumn, finally gets underway.

Bosses at London-based the Mall Corporation, which owns the shopping centre, said they were now reviewing how to use the space vacated by the club.

The club officially closed last weekend and Mr Clarke has withdrawn from his lease with the Mall.

He said that he had become tired of waiting for the promised revamp of Lord Square and that even if it went ahead in the autumn it would mean two years of scaffolding and hoardings surrounding his club.

He said: "After long discussions about the deteriorating state of the shopping centre we have agreed a deal in principle to surrender the lease to the Mall Corporation."

He said the new licensing laws, introduced in November 2005, and cheap drink sold by supermarkets had been factors in his decision to close.

But Mr Clarke also blamed a decline in clubbers enjoying a night out in the town on Blackburn with Darwen Council's disinterest in evening trade.

He said: "Places like Preston and Bolton are buzzing in the evening, but here the pubs are closing down - the town needs to have a feeling of excitement and prosperity.

"The problem that I have got is that we are situated on top of a toilet. The streets are disgusting. There are boarded up shops and the night time economy is particularly dire. I have no confidence in it.

"To get to our club you have to walk through a secluded car park and down dark stairs. It is not safe to ask people to do that."

Mr Clarke re-launched the club is 2004 following a £1million refurbishment.

He had been planning a further £2million investment to change the club into an entertainment complex, including bars and pool rooms under the brand of the Cav - the club's nickname in the town after it opened as the Cavendish club in the 1960s.

But the plans have now been scrapped and Mr Clarke will focus on his nightclub Terminal 1 in Carlisle, which he said had been re-branded and was successful.

He said he would not rule out a return to the town, but that things would have to change.

Mr Clarke once owned a number of night clubs in places ranging from Hull to Stockport, Huddersfield, Leeds and Blackpool.

In June last year the Heaven and Hell chain was placed into insolvency, and he now only owns Terminal 1.

At that time he also said that the chain's demise was down to a loss of trade to pubs allowed to open longer, meaning he was unable to maintain the brand in its current state.

Coun Colin Rigby, leader of the Tory opposition, said: "Yes Lord Square has been a disgrace for many many years, we are well aware of that, but does it come to him as a surprise that is how it is, has he never noticed that before?"

Coun Kate Hollern, leader of the council, said: "Lord Square is about to undergo a major refurbishment, but I do think his club was in the wrong place."

Loraine Jones of The Mall Blackburn said: "The Mall is now reviewing possible options for effectively utilising this space."

Sgt Rachel Baines, Blackburn town centre police, said: "Over the past year, there has been a significant reduction in incidents of violent crime in the town centre."