A BID to make Bournemouth a more diverse and appealing place to visit at night has entered its second stage.

Nightclub owners, licensees, councillors and representatives from the Home Office and Bournemouth Town Watch took part in a workshop to try and “re-imagine Bournemouth by night.”

The workshop, led by urban design practice Feria Urbanism, looked at ways of encouraging a wider range of people to go out in Bournemouth during the evening.

Jon Shipp, night-time economy co-ordinator for Bournemouth council, said: “We want to expand the appeal of Bournemouth town centre, particularly in the early evening period, but also to encourage a greater range of choice and cultural activity throughout the night.

“This will promote the town to a broader audience, raising both the profile and the quality of the night-time offer.

“Our award-winning night time economy provides a good basis to advance from but new ideas and creative thinking will help drive us forward to discover exciting new ways of developing the night-time economy further and achieving this through our close partnership working across the town.”

Discussions centred on the success of town centre events in attracting trade, the potential to capitalise on town centre building development and the scope to brand and market different quarters of Bournemouth town centre.

Alan Dove, the chairman of Bournemouth Town Watch, said: “We should encourage all involved in developing Bournemouth to consider innovative ways of growing the night-time offer across the key districts of the town centre.”