Calls for dilapidated Chesterfield club and 'dangerous attraction' to be knocked down

The 41-year-old mum was speaking after her son and a group of his friends gained access to the former BRSA Club at Hollingwood and used it as a drinking den.

She says her son, aged 13, was lucky to escape without serious injury.

"My son should not have been drinking and that has been made very clear to him,” the mum, from Brimington, said.

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"But they would not have been drinking like that if there was not somewhere to be doing it. The club is insecure and so is an opportunity for children to congregate.”

The incident happened when the 13-year-old and friends travelled from Barrow Hill to the Station Road site, which was formerly a popular community hub.

"They got hold of a bottle of vodka and were joined by a larger group of children later on,” the mum added.

"My son was intoxicated. He could not stand or speak. He was covered in vomit, soaked through and had bits of glass all over him.

"My mother went to get him and she described the site as a ‘slum’. She is 70-years-old and was able to just walk in.

“It is totally insecure and should be knocked down.”

In recent years the club site has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour as attempts to bring it back into use are delayed by red tape.

Last year, it was sold for development.

Councillor Mick Bagshaw, who represents Hollingwood on Chesterfield Borough Council and Staveley Town Council, has been leading attempts to make the site safe and says it is now ‘urgent’ action is taken.

He described its current state as not only an ‘eyesore’ but also a ‘dangerous attraction’ which was putting lives at risk.

"It is absolutely heartbreaking to see once a great establishment go to ruin,” Coun Bagshaw added.

"It is something that could have been put into good use for the community.”

He now wants an enforcement order put in place ordering the owners of the site to demolish what remains of it.

Details of the club’s sale, by Lincoln-based estate agent Lambert Smith Hampton, appeared on the Right Move website last summer.

It has not been revealed who bought it.