'tis true
Blaze at exclusive nightspot
17/ 9/2008
AN EXCLUSIVE nightspot popular with the rich and famous has been severely damaged after a massive fire swept through part of the building - just a week after a lavish re-launch.
Panacea - in the affluent Cheshire village of Alderley Edge - has just re-opened after £3.2m was spent refurbishing and re-branding it.
At 5am today more than 30 firefighters were called to deal with the blaze which brought traffic chaos to Cheshire commuters forcing the closure of several roads including the A34.
Now fire investigators will have to pick through the wreckage to find out how it started.
Firefighter Pete Walsh said: "It appears the fire started on the first floor at the back of the building. It spread to part of the roof at the back, but we did manage to contain the fire to prevent it spreading to the front.
"Aside from our presence, looking at it from the frontage on the A34, you would not know that there had been a problem."
The venue - previously known as Brasingamens nightclub - closed after financial problems 18 months ago.
But Joe Akka, boss of another bar called Panacea in Manchester city centre, signed a £2m deal to re-open and transform the venue turning it from a nightclub into an exclusive restaurant and bar.
Doors were opened to the public for the first time on Friday.
