FORMER customers of one of Weymouth’s most lively nightclubs are being invited to groove back in time at a special party.

In the 1980s, the Cat’s Whiskers in School Street was one of the most happening venues in the town.

Now the club’s owner, well-known Weymouth businessman Nino Ronzitti, is throwing a party to remember the good old days – and all are invited.

Nino ran the club between 1980 and 1987 and has good memories of the years there.

He said: “We were busy from Thursday night through to Saturday night.

“Thursdays were ladies’ nights and they were called ‘grab a granny’ nights.

“Then on Friday and Saturday nights the club was the place to be in the town.

“We had quite a strict dress code and didn’t let people in if they were wearing jeans and T-shirts – they had to be wearing proper trousers and shirts.

“There was a little bit of trouble every now and then I suppose, but not much, not like it is today.

“We had doormen to keep things under control – they were always very smartly dressed – and if someone was getting too much people seemed to sort it out among themselves.”

One of the highlights of the Cat’s Whiskers was its illuminated dance floor. The club was the first venue in the town to have such an innovation and it certainly helped pull in the crowds.

“It was square and had a cat’s face in the corner,” Nino remembered.

“In the end they closed us down in 1987 because of the new town development, but in the end it didn’t happen for another 10 years and the town centre was one big car park.”

To celebrate and remember the club’s glory days, Nino is organising a special retrospective evening, which will be help in the Steering Wheel nightclub in Weymouth’s Maiden Street on June 3, starting at 7.30pm.

Entry will be free and there will be a finger buffet and Neil Coade, who DJ-ed at the club in the 1980s, will be back spinning the discs.

Nino said: “We are hoping that as many of our old customers as possible will come along and remember their nights in the club. We used to have around 500 people dancing and having a great time and it would be lovely to see as many of them as possible again.

“So far, we have people coming from as far away as Jamaica and Australia, so it should be a good party.”

For further details, check out the Facebook page ‘we loved the Cat’s Whiskers in the 1980s’ on facebook.com