Bar owner charged with possession of cocaine

One of North-east England's best-known hotel and bar owners has been arrested and accused of possessing cocaine.

Keith Gibbon, 59, owner of Lazi Leisure, has been charged with possession of a class A drug, along with a CS gas spray. Gibbon is due before Newcastle magistrates on 9 August.

The drugs and spray were allegedly found when police raided his luxury home in the Gosforth area of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Gibbon has been involved in the licensed trade since the 1960s, when he started work as a doorman. In 1974, he opened Julie's, the first nightclub on Newcastle Quayside.

Lazi Leisure now includes the Brandling pub and restaurant in Newcastle, as well as the Idols and Pravda Russian vodka bar chains, which have bars in Newcastle, Sunderland and Whitley Bay.

Three years ago, after spending £1.5m on a refit, Gibbon opened the 50-bedroom Esplanade Hotel and Restaurant in Whitley Bay.