It may have a reputation as one of Britain's great musical cities, providing a leg-up to some of our best-loved bands - but Oxford has never been a clubbing city.

While its live venues have attracted gig-goers from far and wide, its club scene has been, quite frankly, terrible.

The lack of a decent large venue has long left clubbers facing trips to London, Birmingham and Bristol in search of quality beats.

And the same has been true for the city's DJs.

All that is set to change, however, with the launch of a dazzling new venue in an Oxford landmark - The Regal. Housed in the restored splendour of the 1937 Regal cinema, the club will transform Oxford's club life.

Clubbers caught their first glimpse of the new venue last night, at an opening night hosted by the legendary Sir Norman Jay.

And more will be descending on architect Robert Cromie's Grade II listed art deco picture house this weekend, with sets by Mark Devlin and Kid Fury, tonight, and superstar DJ Alistair Whitehead, tomorrow.

They will be followed in the club's front bar and foyer by a startling line-up of DJs, including Graham Gold, Brandon Block, Mark Doyle, and CJ Mackintosh, until the opening of the main room and the rest of the building, in April.

For DJ and music-lover Kieran Hayes, the coming weekend is the realisation of a long dream. An Oxford native, he has been Djing for 20 years, and has held residencies at The Bridge and Park End, and is the club's head of music and promotions.

"It's going to be a massive space and will allow us to hold everything from salsa to ballroom dancing, oldskool rave, club classics and live PAs.

"We are also planning to bring African bands, a North Korean Orchestra, Asian shows and even Sunday afternoon kids' concerts.

"The important thing is to have fun and enjoy it and not be collared with high ticket prices.

"Places like the Carling Academy are doing a great job, and we want to dovetail, by providing something different."

The venue currently holds just over 200 people, but once fully open, it will accommodate about 1,000.

"The clubbing scene in Oxford used to be awful," he laughs.

"This will fill a much-needed demand. And it will all be in this beautiful building, which is an amazing backdrop."

Kieran, and his colleagues in the venture, Jason Preston, Adam Marsh and Charlie McCreedy, are acutely attached to the building, one of only two remaining cinemas of their kind in the UK.

"We've christened her the first lady of Oxford! She belongs not to us, but to the city and its people. She once again looks like her architect intended."

Attractions on completion will include dedicated cocktail and Champagne bars and a highly unusual two DJ boxes in the main room.

Among the venue's highlights will be a night played by women DJs, called Girls, Girls, Girls.

"What can be better than a lady looking fantastic and chucking out great tunes?," asks Kieran.

"It's cool to go out to dance music nights again. Dance is exciting again and the electro scene has rocketed.

"There are some fantastic producers with amazing ideas, and we are giving them a space to come to, with a brilliant soundsystem."