A 250-year-old private members club near Prince of Wales Road has been forced to bolster its security, claiming the area has become less safe.

The Norfolk Club on Upper King Street suffered £14,000 of damage when 24-year-old Adrian Micu broke in last summer, leaving a trail of blood and broken glass in his wake.

Micu was arrested at the scene after bouncers at nearby Stadia raised the alarm, but his drunken spree destroyed a "timeless" Victorian carpet, valued at £10,000.

He had broken into the club just a week before they were due to have new security gates installed, after a spike in break-ins over recent years.

"Even though we have been here 250 years things have really got worse in the last couple of years," said club secretary Freddie Van Till.

"We have had break-ins and had things stolen so we have upped our security procedures. Now the car park is entirely closed off at night because we had people taking cocaine and were finding syringes on a daily basis."

Micu had also smashed a window at the Stadia nightclub in the early hours of June 22, and officers had to threaten him with Taser to remove him from the Norfolk Club after he broke in through a back door.

He had broken into the library and blood and glass were found smeared across carpets, curtains and a replica bust of Thomas Coke, First Earl of Leicester.

"He was obviously bleeding because he cut himself either on the window at Stadia or ours, and left a considerable trail of blood," said Baroness Van Till.

"The biggest damage was to our Victorian carpet, which was covered in blood and glass and got written off for health and safety purposes. That was £10,000. Some of these things are timeless."

The club closed the library for two weeks for the clean-up operation.

Baroness Van Till said after seeing what had unfolded on CCTV, she thought the whole incident was "rather sad".

"We sadly have had quite considerable issues with nightly activities," she said. "This occurred just a week before our new fence was put in.

"We have had to do up a lot of security in the last year because we have had issues and we are quite concerned about security.

"It is very sad what happened to him and he clearly wasn't in a happy place.

"He was obviously very distressed and it is a concern the area does attract people in a bad way.

"We have been really impressed with the police and the support they have shown us, and there is a wonderful system between the bouncers and police in the area.

"I really regret what happened to him and I hope he will manage to change his life."

Micu, of Rouen Road in Norwich, admitted four counts of criminal damage, including two incidents on October 14.

Judge David Goodin sentenced him to six months in prison suspended for two years and ordered him to pay £2,000 in compensation to his victims.

He must also carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, 30 rehabilitation days and 60 days on the thinking skills programme.

The judge told him: "It is plain you are capable sober of contributing to society, behaving yourself, working hard and paying your taxes. In drink, you are a menace and a thug, leaving a trial of shattered glass in your wake."