A middle-aged dance enthusiast is hoping to dispel the image of embarrassing parents boogying around the living room furniture by staging club nights for the over 40s.

Quite literally taking the scene ‘back to the old school’, a Crouch End mum-of-three is bringing a dose of rave culture to this north London enclave.

Clare Inkson, 49, of Priory Road, said: “A lot of youngsters don’t like to see their parents dancing, but it was a big part of our culture.

“I used to go out three nights a week to big clubs, staying up all night dancing to new wave and house music.

“So many people in the 40s and 50s love kicking off their shoes and dancing around their kitchen while cooking dinner and sipping on a glass of wine. Dancing gives you such a release, such joy.

“We may be in our middle years of life, but there is still plenty of energy in us. I think our generation has become invisible. There is nothing that caters for us. There is nothing between Cosmo magazine and Good Housekeeping.”

Having spent her student years in Manchester partying at the famous Hacienda nightclub – founded by the band New Order and the birthplace of acid house – Ms Inkson views clubbing as an integral part of her life.

Yet it has been some 20 years since the lecturer in tourism at Westminster University last threw a shape on the club floor because she was put off going as she felt they catered for an exclusively young crowd.

But she also feels too young to while away her hours watching repeats of the Antiques Roadshow.

“There are no clubs out there to cater for people like me – so I stepped in to do it myself,” she said.

“I wasn’t sure how people would react to the idea, but the response has been overwhelming. One woman told me that she had been waiting years for a woman like me to organise a club night.”

Having grown up listening to the new romantics, disco, new wave and early house music, Ms Inkson thinks that her generation can teach a thing or two to new younger clubbers about partying.

But they won’t get the chance at her inaugural night, aptly titled The Beat Goes On, this Friday at The Music Palace in Tottenham Lane, Crouch End, as she is hoping to only attract the over 40s.

“There are a lot of people who have had kids, a career and are middle-aged just itching to get back to the dance floor,” she said.

For more information visit www.the-beat-goes-on.co.uk