Thousands at relaunch of Shrewsbury's Buttermarket club

Thousands of revellers headed to the reopened £1 million Buttermarket nightclub in Shrewsbury over the Easter weekend with bosses delighted at the 'incredible' turnout by partygoers.

A sell-out crowd of about 900 people turned up on Thursday at the Buttermarket for the official opening of The Cellars section of the club with 1960s legends The Drifters performing as part of a Mega Motown and Soul Train night.

Hundreds more people packed the venue, in Howard Street, on the following four nights, with sell-out crowds for Planet of the Breaks on Friday night and Bridgnorth-based DJ Jigsaw's new club night Sound of C on Saturday.

On Easter Sunday, a new live music night featuring local bands and called Live Sessions took place, while yesterday's event saw an after-party held by organisers of Eyton Races.

New owner of the Buttermarket, Martin Monahan, said that the five-day opening extravaganza could not have gone any better.

He added that the feedback from music fans and clubbers had been brilliant.

He said: "It has been absolutely amazing and I honestly couldn't have asked for it to have gone any better.

"The support we've had has been incredible and the one night by 10.15pm, just 15 minutes after opening, we had queues right the way down past the main Buttermarket pillars.

"Each night we had a different type of music and a slightly different type of person turning up which goes towards exactly what we're trying to do with trying to reconnect the venue with everyone throughout Shropshire."

Mr Monahan also said that the work was on schedule for the opening of the main part of the club, after scaffolding went up in February.

He added that club-goers could expect the site to be fully ready by early autumn.

"We've started work on the top floor now and it will reopen by September at the latest although it could well be even sooner than that," he said.

A £1 million deal for the club was struck earlier this year as part of a project set to create 60 jobs in the town.

For further information about upcoming events being staged at the club visit the website at www.thebuttermarket.co.uk

By David Seadon