GAZETTE & HERALD: BURNT-OUT Club Nero could re-open in April with a new image and new name say its owners.

The club was badly damaged and forced to close for Christmas when a fire tore through the ground floor of the building in the High Street, Chippenham, in the early hours of the morning on Sunday December 19.

It could leave a repair bill of more than £250,000 for joint owners Claudio Viveiros and Billy Hines, who bought the club only nine months ago. They can't even begin to put a figure on how much money they will lose over the next three months.

Mr Viveiros, 28 said: "I spent about three days in bed thinking about it and mulling it over, getting upset. The club was getting somewhere so it hit me really badly when I first heard about it.

"But now we just want to forget about it and put it behind us and look at it as a new project. It just means other stuff I had in the pipeline will have to be put on the back burner."

The owners cannot begin revamping the building until insurance companies have surveyed the damage, which could take the whole of January.

The fire, which is believed to have started in the cupboard that houses the electrics on the ground floor, took three hours and more than 30 firefighters to extinguish.

Furniture, floorboards and drinks were destroyed and plasterboard is still hanging down from the ceilings. There is no heating or electricity.

The owners had bought twice their usual amount of stock to see them through Christmas and New Year celebrations but Mr Viveiros said it had all been cooked in the heat and ruined.

"The longer we're closed, the more money I'm going to lose," he said.

"But while we are in there re-fitting we might think about a new image. We just don't know yet. There might be a bit of bad luck in there so we want a new start and might even re-name it."

Despite there being one less nightspot for partygoers to see in the New Year police have said the Christmas period has been quiet.

Between 1.47am on Friday December 31 to 11.20pm on Saturday January 1, 68 incidents were reported to police, ranging from alarms going off and fallen trees to minor assaults.

In the same period last year there were just 46 incidents. But Tim Swinburn of Chippenham police said: "I think people are a lot happier reporting things now.

"Last year all the calls were about domestic incidents or criminal offences. They all related to aggression.

"This year, although there were 22 more calls, people were calling us because they were concerned about others or trees in the road. Last year the calls were a lot less public-spirited."

He added: "All we want is people to go out, have fun and get home safely."

John Drew, manager of Buds nightclub on Station Hill, agreed that there had been little trouble over the festive period.

"It was a very, very good Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve," he said. "We were at full capacity and had no trouble. It was a fantastic atmosphere."

He added that Club Nero closing didn't affect his trade, or cause any more trouble in the area.

"We don't have rivals in the town. The last couple of years have been a real flyer for us," he said.

Les Weir, a partner in the Fizz Bar Caf, on The Bridge, Chippenham said: "New Year's Eve was absolutely brilliant. We had a full house by about 10.30pm.

"It was a great party atmosphere. People were dressed up in 60s gear. We had extra security on. We police it very well.

"I don't think we'd get anything of Nero's trade in here. There's a difference in age groups. We have a more mature age group."