MAGISTRATES are to be congratulated for hitting troublesome nightclub Mood Cocktail Bar in the pocket.

Police may be disappointed but surely the suspension of the club’s alcohol licence and shutdown over the lucrative Christmas and New Year period will force a change in culture at the George Street venue.

Nine assaults that required police attendance in a year is not a healthy statistic and both the police and Oxford City Council were clearly upset with the way Mood was being run.

That the council told management in January 2008 to do away with its glasses, only for a young woman to be glassed a few weeks later, speaks volumes.

Magistrates quashed the council’s revocation of the licence but you can hardly say a change to a suspension sees Mood get off lightly.

Like so many businesses, Christmas and New Year is a busy and profitable time for well-run establishments.

That will put a severe dent in the owner’s budget and will be a painful statement that magistrates do not expect any repetition or future problems.

If the management of the newly-named venue find themselves attracting official attention again, then they will not be able to complain if they are shut down permanently.