GREENOCK nightclub WordUp has decided to close down to help limit the risk of coronavirus spread.

The Dalrymple Street venue initially said they would continue trading over the weekend, despite people being urged by the UK Government to stay at home and avoid social contact.

Now bosses have performed a u-turn.

Text next door will also be shut.

On Thursday, WordUp posted on their Facebook page that they had 'debated and searched their souls' about whether to stay open.

Yesterday afternoon they said in hindsight they had made the wrong call, just before the Prime Minister formally told bars and clubs to cease trading.

In a statement WordUp said: "Yesterday [Thursday] we had a mindset that if we could stay open in accordance with government guidelines this weekend and sell our existing stock, we could in theory pay our staff for maybe three or four weeks.

"That just doesn’t seem possible now and in hindsight wasn’t the best decision.

"We must now do what is best for everyone’s health and close Word Up and Text."

Management say they will be keeping club staff on.

The club said: "There will be no redundancies and we will do everything we can to financially support our amazing staff through to reopening."

The Dalrymple Street compex - which consists of both Word Up and Text - originally vowed to take responsible measures such as reducing the capacity significantly to keep it below 500, offering staff gloves, having hand sanitiser readily available and asking attendees to use their card for payment rather than cash.

The original decision to stay open met with a mixed response on social media, with one Inverclyde woman labelling it 'irresponsible and unfair' and another branding it a 'selfish decision.'

However, some regular clubbers praised the club for trying to keep things normal and pay staff wages.

WordUp say they will remain closed until it is deemed fit to reopen.