A police chief has hit out at a club’s ‘corona or no corona’ plans for an all-night party offering free drinks.

Preston’s Switch nightclub is offering free entry to revellers tomorrow night – despite official pleas for people to avoid clubs and pubs as the virus continues to spread across the UK.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, the Lancashire club joked that if party goers were caught coughing more than three times they would be ‘locked in the cellar… for good.’ 

But Lancashire Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Terry Ward slammed the promotion, tweeting: ‘Never singled out a business on social media before but today I make an exception. Whilst lots of us battle to protect the public from harm others aren’t getting it. They will be getting a visit tomorrow to explain the plain facts – but we can’t stop them…’

The club had written earlier: ‘Corona or no corona – we are partying this Saturday until Boris calls last orders. 

‘SKNT night starts on Saturday and we know it’s a hard time for everyone so it’s 60p drinks before midnight.

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‘And that is not all – we will give free entry and free drink (sic) on the G-list.’

The club then added: ‘Friendly warning: if you cough more than three times throughout the course of the evening we will be locking you in the cellar…for good.’

The event comes as authorities urged everyone across the country to avoid pubs and clubs in a ‘social distancing’ strategy to stem the spread of the Covid-19. 

But figures in the hospitality industry, which is facing a financial meltdown, have suggested that the government should shut venues so that they can make insurance claims – otherwise clubs and pubs could be tempted to remain open to give them some cash flow.

The club – which is in the town centre – has now apologised and previously issued a series of precautionary notes on how to combat coronavirus.

In a statement naming the staff member behind the post, it wrote: ‘Switch would like to apologise for any offence caused from the status shared by Terry Woods.

‘With the amount of false and negative comments on social media over the last week, our team thought some light hearted fun aimed at our 18-21 demographic would raise some smiles within our community.

‘Prior to this we have released 2 official statements encouraging people only to visit Switch if they feel safe enough, and outlining our guidelines and protocols put into place for the health of our staff and visitors.’

‘Displaying posters on proper handwashing techniques in the toilets.

‘Making sure that hand soap is constantly refilled and available in our toilets.’

‘We’re still monitoring developments super close, but we’ll keep the party going in the meantime.’

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