OVER the decades it has confused and amused clubbers in equal measures and has left many a hapless party person quite literally in a spin.

But, according to a trio of business people who plan to re-open Swindon’s largest nightclub, the public want it back.

Now they hope to turn around the fortunes of Swindon’s iconic revolving circular bar when the Brunel Rooms opens its doors again later this year.

One member of the group Helene Simpkins, 34, said: “Originally, we thought we’d reintroduce the revolving bar a year or so after reopening the club again.

“The idea was that we’d have a publicity campaign, maybe involving T-shirts and posters, gradually leading up to the return of the revolving bar.

“But it’s been pretty obvious from the response we’ve had to reopening the Brunel Rooms that people want to see it back as soon as possible. So that’s what we’re hoping to do.”

When the town centre venue opened in March 1973, the slowly-turning central bar was believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

It was especially designed to imitate the turning of a locomotive wheel to reflect Swindon’s heritage as a railway town The Post Office Tower in London, now the BT Tower, had a revolving restaurant on the top, but it was understood no other nightclub in the country had a huge revolving bar.

A feat of technical wizardry at the time, it quickly became a landmark feature at the 1,800-capacity Brunel Rooms.

Sometimes its intricate, innovative mechanism broke down, but the management, aware of its popularity, always got it back on track again.

Over the years it claimed countless victims, particularly those who had perhaps had over-imbibed. Although it turned with an almost imperceptible speed, it could have a disorienting effect on punters and it was not unusual for them to plunge headfirst off its revolving platform, often while carrying drinks.

A comment on the nightclub website Qype succinctly sums it up: “Just watch out for the revolving bar — I fell flat on my face on the dancefloor.”

The revolving bar remained a constant factor at the venue until it was sold by the Reid family to a company called Luminar in 2007.

The revamped premises were reopened as Liquid & Envy but the slowly-turning platform was decommisioned and now no longer exists. Liquid & Envy closed in November 2011 when Luminar was made bankrupt.

Jason Ranford, 26, another member of the group which intends to reopen the venue in the “late summer”, said the revolving bar was a key and highly distinctive element of the Brunel Rooms.

He said: “We’ve got three designers looking to introduce the revolving bar there.

“Obviously, it’s going to be expensive. But it’s something we’re very keen to bring back.

“From all the feedback we’ve had, people really want to see it there again.”

Jason, Helene and her sister, Paula, 33, are finalising a deal to lease the premises from First Investments, which runs the Brunel Centre shopping complex where the club is situated.

l In 2002, the owner of a club called Crewe Hall in Cheshire boasted of bringing the UK’s first revolving bar to his venue after becoming impressed by one in New York, unaware that Swindon had had one for almost 30 years!