THE new owner of a troubled Bournemouth nightclub has promised it will be run “properly and professionally” – if he is allowed to reopen it.

Gary Bennetton has taken the helm of V in Exeter Road, which had its licence suspended following a serious stabbing incident last month.

His first task is to attend a licensing hearing tomorrow and try and convince police and councillors to allow him to reopen the club.

If he succeeds, he is promising big changes. “In my opinion, V is probably one of the best clubs on the south coast, if not the country,” he said. “It’s a brilliant club but it has not been run well.

“It needs someone with a fresh mindset, we all know its history, it needs a fresh, clean sweep.”

Gary currently runs the Orange Rooms club in Southampton and recently succeeded in winning permission to open an Orange Rooms venue in Holdenhurst Road.

He insisted he was not linked to the previous owners, including Richard Carr, in any way and said they would not be involved in V under his ownership.

“I wouldn’t do that, I don’t know him well enough to go into business with him,” he said.

“I wouldn’t risk my reputation or the brand.

“This is purely a business transaction. I can’t change the past, I can only change the future and that’s what I intend to do.”

One of his ideas is to reverse the decision to make V a “superclub” by merging the nightclub fronting Exeter Road with the former Hamptons venue in Terrace Road.

“They work better as individual venues. The way they were connected was strange and it just didn’t work.

“I’ve only been looking at it a week but hopefully we’ve got some ideas that will help with the operation of the venue. Hopefully the council will be confident we’re going to run it properly and professionally.

“I’m a family man, I’ve got a wife and two kids and I don’t get involved in the politics of the club scene. I’m just really looking forward to this challenge – it’s probably the challenge of my career.”

Cllr Andrew Morgan, chair of the licensing board, said: “A full review of the premises licence for ‘V’ will take place at a licensing hearing on Thursday.

“The Board will be considering the appropriate next steps. During the hearing the Board will receive representations from the club’s management, Dorset Police and Environmental Health.”