One of Bradford's major entertainment venues has been sold.

The Town and Country Club in Manningham Lane closed after the company which owned it went into liquidation.

Its new owner Javed Majid owned the club before when it was known as Maestros, but he is keeping his current plans for the venue close to his chest.

The sudden closure of the club has left people angry, including the Bingley organisers of a disco dancing competition who were hoping to stage an event there.

The old Mecca Locarno cost £550,000 when it opened in Manningham Lane in the early 1960s on the site of a former roller skating arena which was burned to the ground in 1955.

It later became known as Dollars and Dimes and the Palace before the venue was bought by Mr Majid in 1990 and became known as Maestros. It was then turned into Penningtons by Bradford businessman John Pennington who sold it in 2003 when it became the Town and Country.

Property developer Mr Majid remained tight-lipped about his plans for the site, but offered assurances that it would be a development the area would be "proud of".

"I am in talks with Bradford Council and would prefer not to reveal the plans at this stage," he said.

"Whatever I do I always make sure it is of the highest quality. I want to provide something that will be a catalyst for further improvements in the area."

The shutdown of the Town and Country left competition organiser Michelle Short and her group frantically searching for a new venue before 500 disco dancers.

Michelle, of Bingley-based disco dancing group Club M, had arranged for the dancers to compete at the Manningham Lane club in November.

But Michelle was this week shocked to find the club had closed since she booked and paid a £100 deposit in April. "I had sent out the invitation packs to a lot of dance clubs to take part and many of them had already booked coaches to get there," she said.

Michelle had spent the last few weeks unsuccessfully trying to contact the Town and Country Club about arrangements. She eventually discovered the club had closed when she visited on Wednesday. After an anxious couple of days, Michelle was relieved to be able to book Bradford's Cedar Court Hotel, in Mayo Avenue.

In April the Telegraph and Argus reported that Town and Country Club Ltd, the business behind the venue, had folded after bosses decided it could not continue because of its "liabilities".

The venue was taken over by new company P3 Leisure Ltd, set up by the co-owners of the premises Paul Sewell and Paul Masterantuono who were also directors of the now defunct Town and Country Club Ltd. A P3 Leisure spokesman said they had tried to contact all parties with bookings to tell them the club was closing.