A former nightclub described as a 'Mecca for acid house music' put up a reward to catch the arsonists who torched the venue twice within weeks.
Opened originally as a stunning ballroom in the 1920s, The State nightclub on Dale Street became an iconic nightclub for dance music in the late 1980s and 1990s attracting clubbers from all over the UK. However, despite its status, the club endured a chequered history.
The club was closed in 1988 and stripped of its entertainment and alcohol licence after Merseyside Police argued it had become a favourite haunt for young people using the drug Ecstasy (MDMA). The illegal drug had become notorious after being implicated in a number of high profile deaths of young people who had attended raves throughout the UK at the time.
