AUSTRALIA - Surfers clubs warned not to host bikies

OFF THE WIRE
GOLD Coast nightclubs that entertain outlaw motorcycle gangs have been threatened with closure by police determined to clean up the seedy strip.
A 30-year-old Mermaid Beach man is facing a ban from the Surfers Paradise nightclub precinct after he was arrested last night, following a run-in with club security.
Police say he has links to outlaw motorcycle gangs. They want the courts to exclude him from the area as they've done to 35 others.
The move comes at the same time as reports of escalating tension between the Rebels and Bandidos, whose members allegedly had a confrontation in a Surfers Paradise club last week.
Gold Coast Superintendent Paul Ziebarth said the onus was on clubs not to allow "unsavoury" guests to enter.
Licensees have an obligation under the liquor act to maintain a safe environment, he told reporters on the Gold Coast.
"Rest assured, we do have quite a significant matrix if you like, of persons of interest within the Surfers Paradise area ... the whole of the Gold Coast," he said.
"Any of those persons that we know as known violent persons that are harboured and indeed entertained in licensed venues will be subject of close scrutiny from the police."
Two clubs have closed down as a result of police and liquor authority operations, and more were under close watch now, Superintendent Ziebath said.
"A lot of those people aren't entertained for long in Surfers Paradise because our police are on to them like a seagull on a chip, and they don't last in that environment for too long," he said.
Superintendent Ziebath was adamant that Surfers Paradise was becoming less attractive to bikies and other thugs due to police efforts.
The area is a designated Drink Safe precinct, which means Queensland Police have extra funds to boost patrols of its 106 licensed premises, 40 of them which trade past midnight.
The Drink Safe initiative is funded to the end of November.

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