NIGHTCLUB bosses have abandoned plans for a new venture in the heart of Ryedale because they claim rents are too high.

A £750,000 project, drawn up over recent months by three local investors, was designed to give the twin towns of Malton and Norton their first ever club.

But businessman David Brad-ley said the project would not go ahead because the rent on a disused building they had hoped to use was double what they had expected to pay.

"It would have benefited the pubs in the towns because instead of going to York or Scarborough for a night out people would have stayed in Malton and Norton," said Mr Bradley. "We had managed to raise more than £700,000 towards the project and we had received support from Ryedale District Council."

Mr Bradley said the scheme faltered when they approached the owners of the building they had hoped to use, on Norton Grove Industrial Estate.

"We offered them £25,000 a year rent, but they told us the rent would be more like £50,000 a year," said Mr Bradley.

"It is stupid because the building has been empty for two or more years. How do they expect to get anyone in if they are going to keep the rents so high?

"Ultimately, Malton and Norton have lost out because of it."

But Gerald Phillips, managing director of owners Norton Grove Construction and Development Company, based in Leeds, insisted: "This is quite a cheap building for that area. We would have been happy to accept £40,000 a year but there was no way we would have taken £25,000 a year.