Club licence at risk after Jude Law's child chews ecstasy pill

Soho House, the exclusive London members club, could be stripped of its licence after the two-year-old daughter of actor Jude Law was hospitalised when she chewed an ecstasy tablet she found during a children's party.

Iris Law's mother, actress Sadie Frost, pulled the tablet out of her daughter's mouth before she swallowed it all and the toddler was rushed to hospital where she was kept under observation overnight.

The couple said yesterday that no serious harm had come to their daughter and they felt like "the luckiest parents alive".

Soho House faces investigations into how an ecstasy tablet came to be on the floor of the club during a Saturday afternoon children's party.

The incident is an embarrassment for the club, one of the premier social spots for the capital's showbusiness and media figures, and comes less than a month before its licence comes up for renewal.

Westminster Council said yesterday it would have no hesitation in revoking the licence "within days" if a police report found evidence of a drug problem. Officers from Scotland Yard's clubs and vice unit met Soho House managers yesterday to discuss the incident, which happened in a room used as a nightclub the previous evening.

Law, 29, who stars in Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes's new film Road to Perdition, is filming in the United States and was told what had happened by his 34-year-old wife.

Speaking outside the couple's home in Primrose Hill, north London yesterday, Frost's agent Meena Khera, said Iris was "absolutely fine". Frost left later with her daughter and Ms Khera, and refused to comment when asked if she would take action against the club.

A spokeswoman for the couple said their daughter received appropriate medical attention but did not have her stomach pumped or a brain scan as reported in some newspapers yesterday.

"This matter was dealt with by the police and is now in their hands. Jude and Sadie just feel like the luckiest parents alive, as no serious harm came to their daughter," she said.

It is understood that the council and police were not aware of a problem at Soho House, which is owned by Nick Jones, the husband of Channel 5 newsreader Kirsty Young, and whose members have included Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise.

However police and some club members privately commented that it was hardly unknown for cocaine and other drugs to be available at showbusiness and media hangouts.

One regular at the club said he was surprised to hear ecstasy was found there. "Usually it's taken in a place with a dance club atmosphere, not a lounge bar like Soho House."

A Westminster Council spokeswoman said council inspectors would make a formal visit to the club, as well as a possible undercover operation, as has happened for other clubs.

Chris Day, the manager of Soho House, refused to comment on the incident, saying it was a "a private party and a private matter." A spokesman added later: "It is made clear to all our members in the club's rules and regulations that drugs will not be tolerated on the premises."