REACTION: Ignoring the loss in business, Hippodrome Club has cancelled its Asian nights

"We allow in Asian groups with a good mix of girls and boys and turn away all-boy gangs." Stuart OOdeshaw, Manager, Strawberry Moon

Eighteen-year-old Zil and his mates go looking for fun. They move about in groups and style themselves as the south London boys. And they're always ready for trouble-like if they're shoved or pushed about in a club. They are actually proud of that night a few months ago at the club Equinox in Leicester Square, where Zil's friend and leader of the group, Sunil, bumped into an east London boy by mistake.

"We were not looking for a fight," stresses Zil, who is a college dropout. "The floor was crowded and he said sorry and put out his hand for a handshake but that guy refused to let go and his mates- about 12 of them-started circling and kicking Sunil."

Zil's gang of nine retaliated. Then the bouncers-the club security personnel-came and the boys pretended that all was fine. "Had they smelled trouble, they would have asked the east London lot to leave. They would have gone home and we could not have got even with them," adds Zil. When the bouncers left, the south boys chased the east gang into a toilet and beat them up. But as they came out on the street, more east London gang members were waiting to fight them outside. And they fought ...

It is an incident that Zil (not his real name) likes to brag about. "Once every five times we go clubbing, we get into fights. News gets around real fast and it's really cool for the image," he explains.

POLICY MAKER: Oodeshaw enforces strict entry rules at Strawberry Moon

"There is deep mistrust among the Asian youth. The only way out is communication." Moiz Vas, Owner, Brasian Consultancy

Fist fights in clubs during Asian nights have become a common phenomenon in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bradford. And the fact that it has become a matter of pride for young Asians to get involved in fights is an alarming trend. Most of the fights take place between different Asian gangs-not with the whites or blacks.

The main areas where the police has been having problems with gang culture are east, south and west London where young Asian boys without regular jobs or too much idle time look for ways to build up their image. When these groups go to clubs, say in central London, where they come from becomes their identity.

The main problem, club managers feel, is attitude. They identify the typical trouble maker as one who wears designer jeans and a baseball cap with a rude-boy outlook and is often easy to spot from a distance. He would likely be the guy who spends about £70-80 on a shirt, over £100 on jeans, listens to garage music and inevitably shows off some designer wear like Versace, Armani or Moschino with the brands prominently displayed to bolster his confidence.

Fights generally break out due to shoving and pushing or over a girl. But once the gang finds out about the other's ethnicity, the fist fight sometimes takes a more sinister turn. Club managers have now learnt to spot the trouble makers. They have noticed that Asian nights, where garage or strong RnB is played, draw the "rude boy" crowd. Some clubs have even called off Asian nights in a bid to keep their clubs running smoothly.

According to James Smith, a bouncer at the leading London club Hippodrome, "Asian nights were always a big draw but there was always too much trouble as well. After we had a stabbing case outside our club where a chap busted another with a champagne bottle, we have stopped organising Asian nights."

Cancelling such nights does not make commercial sense. But on the other hand, if such fights happen, a club stands to lose its licence. So others, such as Strawberry Moon off Regent Street, have introduced some dos and don'ts. They continue to hold Asian nights every Tuesday but with a strict door policy, which restricts entry.

Stewart Oodeshaw, manager at Strawberry Moon, says, "We have a policy that works. We turn away 100 to 200 people every night. We let in Asian groups if they have a good mix of girls and boys. All boy gangs and the ones dressed in Nike and baseball caps with typical 'rude boy' looks are refused entry."

Moiz Vas, founder of Brasian Consultancy which closely follows Asian youth culture to channel products to this market section, has some observations to make. He says: "This behaviour stems from the youth not being able to feel confident. In normal or privileged society, the sense of achievement arises from education, having a good job and a purpose every day. But when the youth is not faring well in education and does not have a steady job, he tries to gain confidence in different ways, like by embracing crime."

The gang culture is most prevalent in the poverty-stricken areas of Illford, Bricklane, Oldham, Luton, and Manchester. With no jobs and no purpose, Asian youth hang out together, showing off to peers to be a leader and visiting clubs for ego trips. Trouble comes when rival groups arrive at the same club with more women or better brand names so the gang feels slighted. Zil and his friends view wearing designer brands and having women around as ways to earn respect among peers. They cherish the tough-man image and glorify fights.

Vas warns that the cancelling of Asian nights has its dangers, because at any given time, there are 3,000 people ready to attend. A few days before the D-day, 40,000 flyers would go out and 60,000 young Asians would be out confronting the police. "There is deep mistrust and the only way forward is proper communication," he adds.

On its part, the Metropolitan Police is taking steps to control the rising crime. In a bid to make Asian youth aware of the negatives of gang culture, it has launched a campaign called "It's a mugs game". It is also trying to encourage Asian youth from underprivileged or broken homes to sign up for government help programmes. But till young Asians understand that being the "hardest and meanest" is not being the best, there seems little hope of any change in the Asian club scene in the near future.