THE owners of two nightclubs in central Southampton will face licensing chiefs today in a bid to swap their opening hours.

Licence holders Sirijul and Sayful Islam had applied to alter the hours the Buddha Lounge and Buddha Club in Winchester Street and Vernon Walk are open.

They applied to the council to cut Buddha Club's opening hours to midnight, while extending the hours at Buddha Lounge to 1am on Sundays, Monday to Thursday and 3am Friday, Saturday and bank holidays.

They say it is because Buddha Lounge is a "more viable business venture for the applicant" and "would in turn reduce the management issues of patrons when leaving the Buddha Lounge at midnight to use the Buddha Club".

Some residents have opposed the move, saying Buddha Lounge is too close to residential properties for the extension to be considered, while one, Stewart Morris, said it could "could cause patrons to become very drunk, more so than at places that close earlier, unable to control their behaviour or bladders".

Hampshire Constabulary have not objected, instead agreeing a set of conditions such as the maintenance of CCTV, incidents and refusals books and a club "nanny or floorwalker" to monitor punters.

The meeting of the city council licensing committee takes place at the Civic Centre at 10am this morning.