Plans to rescue Braintree’s night-time reputation have been unveiled after a town centre bar was forced to close just six months after it opened.

Bar Sport, in the High Street, closed last week because the owners were unable to pay the rent.

Father-and-son duo Richard and Steven Winder ploughed £250,000 into the bar, fitting 29 television screens in the American-themed venue.

But the franchise – previously the Silkworm – struggled to attract customers.

The venue hit the headlines during its opening weekend in October when a mass brawl spilled out into the street and left three men needing hospital treatment.

Other licensees in the town say they have been badly affected by the fear of night time violence and are ready to take radical action to keep known offenders away.

Joint efforts being made by pubs and police include issuing door staff with body-worn cameras, a new radio link between bars and draconian banning orders which could see thugs barred from every pub in Essex.

See this week's Braintree Times for the full story.