THE owners of a popular Poole music venue have been left “baffled” after their licence was revoked over allegations of violence.

Chords lost its fight to stay open when Poole council’s licensing sub-committee elected to inflict the most severe sanction possible.

Bar owner Lorraine Vogts said she felt “100 per cent victimised” – a feeling not helped when the press and public were excluded from listening to the evidence presented at the meeting.

Mrs Vogts has vowed to fight on and said she would be appealing against committee’s decision.

“It seems very bizarre, almost like it’s not happening to us,” said Mrs Vogts, who runs the Kingland Road bar with her son, Karl.

“We have underage events that pass off safely and we attract a huge range of people who only feel safe coming into our bar.”

She added that trouble outside other bars in Poole seemed to go unpunished.

Chords was initially closed a month ago when the police and council suspended the licence over “serious crime” – that which carries a prison sentence of three years or more.

The police case focused on four incidents between August last year and January this year, three of which took place outside of the venue itself.

Sgt Steve Lyne, who leads the police’s licensing team, said the bar had suffered from “poor management”.

He said there was also concern over underage drinking and drug use on the premises.

Mrs Vogts rejected the underage and drug allegations, adding that an offer to install new management had been shunned.

Cllr Don Collier, the council’s cabinet member for the environment, said licensees had a responsibility to ensure the safety of the public and revoking a licence was always a last resort.

Chords had become Poole’s main live venue for cutting-edge alternative acts, with double Brit award winner Tinie Tempah appearing last year.