The managers of the SkyDome have responded to concerns raised by the Spon End community about troublemakers causing noise and damage in the area.

Bosses say the complex has been commended by both the police and the council since opening in October.

It has been criticised for causing noise, litter and damage in Spon Street by traders and community groups.

Jules Burton, regional manager of SkyDome owners Northern Leisure last night met with the concerned groups and members of the police authority to clear up the matter.

Points of concern about Spon End were raised at the meeting but Burton pointed out that many of them were not related to SkyDome.

He said:

"One of the main complaints was that litter was bad in Spon End and there was also broken glass.

"A high level of the litter is generated by flyers distributed by other establishments looking to target our customers, which you will find at any event where there are a large number of people - we always do our best to discourage these people.

"Our registered security staff do their best to ensure no-one leaves the club with a glass or bottle, it would be removed from them on the door.

"People often come to SkyDome from the city centre carrying bottles and then discard them because they know they will not be admitted with them.

"Any large site will create some litter and this is reflected in the rates that we pay for the surrounding areas to be cleaned."

One issue that SkyDome management were quick to clear up was the call for them to police club-goers after they had left the development.

Mr Burton said:

"We have more CCTV in and around SkyDome than the rest of the city centre put together and several of these cameras were installed on the Spon Street side of the complex as a deterrent.

"Our security staff have no jurisdiction once people have left the property but we do encourage people to leave in a quiet and orderly fashion.

"To confront people making noise off-site can often just provoke a situation.

"We do take responsibility for our customers which I think we showed on a recent night when we actually paid for two police officers to be in attendance for the entire evening."

Another point regarded cars blocking Spon Street at night, something which surprised  Mr Burton.

He said:

"SkyDome has an 800 space multi-storey car park, and the one at the Co-op is also available for use.

"All of our literature encourages people to park there and anyone who phones for directions is told that parking is available in the complex. It is rarely full."

The regional manager admitted that he felt the concerns had come about through a communications failure between the two parties and pledged to resurrect a regular dialogue.