The owners of Clapham's Lit, Ashley Letchford and Daniel O'Reilly – better known as comedian Dapper Laughs – have criticised the government strategy for nightclubs.

Plans to make Covid vaccine passports mandatory at nightclubs would make the newly opened Lit an "unviable" business, its owners Ashley Letchford and Daniel O'Reilly have said.

Full vaccination will be a condition of entry to nightclubs and venues with large crowds from September. But as Ashley Letchford, 40, says: "If I can do an antigen test to fly to Portugal, why can't we operate the same system in clubs?

Ashley has owned the venue on Clapham's Lendal Terrace for six years. He closed what was the dim sum and cocktail bar, Fu Manchu, to open Lit with his long-standing friend and comedian Dapper Laughs, Daniel O'Reilly.

The pair poured money into the new venture, only to have the pandemic begin and all trade prevented.

Ashley said: "We were kept in the dark for months, it was the not knowing that made us most anxious.

"It was horrible, there were lots of sleepless nights.

"When you have bills to pay and staff to pay, it makes it a really anxious time.

"We were closed for 16 months, we couldn't adhere to any of restrictions until Monday, July 19. It kept being pushed back and there was no real clarity for nightclubs, we felt like an afterthought.

Daniel, 37, added: "The whole Covid thing has been horrendous I bought into the business just before Covid and we paid a lot to rebrand it without making any money. It was scary."

Now over a week into opening Lit, Ashley and Daniel say business is slow in Clapham

Ashley and Daniel made tentative plans to open Lit on June 21 but Ashley said it was lucky nothing was set in stone. With 16 months of uncertainty under their belt, the pair had anticipated the government's delay.

Ashley said: "There's still a hesitance for people to come out, a lot are getting pinged, or isolating or scared. We expected a boom but it didn't arrive, we hope with time it will improve."

Daniel added: "There's an exciting vibe. Obviously some people are still cautious, but overall it's been great."

No green light for Lit just yet

But last Monday (July 19), Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a press conference: "I should serve notice now that by the end of September, when all over 18s have had their chance to be double jabbed we're planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather."

Ashley and Daniel fear for the nightclub industry and the safety of their business if Covid passports become mandatory for clubbing.

Ashley said: "We will adhere to the law, but we will call for alternatives, things that don't discriminate against the younger clientele that clubs attract.

"If they were pushed through it would be detrimental and make our business unviable in the short term."

Daniel said: "I can understand from the government's perspective why they'd do it, but it's another sword in the back of the industry. It takes away people's choices and will result in people not coming to clubs.

Find Lit on Lendal Terrace at the north end of Clapham High Street. Open all week, Lit has events on Thursdays and is open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Have a story in Clapham you want to share with us? Email [email protected], call 07742 524 934 or tweet @IssyMillett.

Find all the latest news from Clapham on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.