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Updated 3rd January

Based on an article from The Independent

Ministers have been rightfully criticised after dumping plans to create licensed "tolerance zones" to remove prostitution from residential areas. The Home Office was attacked for focusing instead on "zero tolerance" campaigns against kerb-crawlers when it releases its prostitution strategy next month.

Fiona Mactaggart, the Home Office minister, signalled that ministers would shelve plans to reform the laws to allow the creation of formal "red-light" zones, first floated by the then home secretary David Blunkett in a Green Paper last year. He proposed giving councils discretion to set up tolerance zones, small licensed brothels and a register of prostitutes.

Ms MacNutter used an interview with The Guardian to reject the view that prostitutes were "sex workers" and called on police to make greater use of powers to confiscate driving licences from kerb-crawlers.

The Home Office said detailed proposals would be published next month. "We want to reduce all forms of sexual exploitation and the harm it causes," a spokeswoman said.

But ministers faced criticism from opposition parties and some councils, which argued that concentrating prostitution in managed zones could help bring women out of the sex trade and limit the impact of prostitution on residents.

Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: Tackling the sex trade is important as it involves drug money and illegal trafficking. But a tough approach must be matched with realism. Prostitution is likely to remain Britain's oldest profession and the most effective approach to the problem will require managing it rather than attempting to completely end it.

Leaders of the Liberal Democrat-controlled Liverpool City Council defended their plans to introduce "managed zones" for prostitution, warning that simply attempting to stamp out the problem would cost millions and drive prostitutes to new areas.

The city is drawing up plans for Britain's first formal zones, designed to help the authorities target young women, help them give up drugs and offer alternative work to take them out of prostitution. The scheme is based on unofficial toleration zones in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In Bolton, where the town's zero tolerance policy is lifted in a small area at night, officials have helped some women to leave the sex trade.

A survey in Liverpool published last year showed more than 80 per cent of residents felt a managed zone was the best way to tackle street prostitution. Flo Clucas, the city councillor leading the project, warned it would cost millions to police a full zero-tolerance approach to street prostitution and risked spreading the problem. She said the city planned to offer support, drugs treatment and education to prostitutes. I think the idea of a mass crackdown is not going to work. It is not dealing with the root cause of the problem.

Edward Garnier, the Tories' home affairs spokesman, said: We welcome measures to cut down on prostitution but these plans don't look any different from those announced 18 months ago. What is needed to crack down on prostitution is not a reheated announcement but action to tackle the roots of the problem, namely that most people caught up in prostitution are affected by class-A drugs and the need to feed an addiction.

Comment from Carol Sarler in The Guardian

Sex for sale is the latest target for the handy, one-size-fits-all 'zero tolerance' approach, as the government plans a national campaign designed to stick prostitution where the sun don't shine. Home Office Minister Fiona MacTaggart wants to gee up the police to make more arrests and greater efforts to close brothels because, she says, 'prostitution blights communities'.

Actually, it doesn't; if it did, human civilisation would have collapsed thousands of years ago. No self-respecting libertarian could sensibly gainsay a man or a woman's fundamental right to charge for sex. I even know a married couple for whom his paying her is a fixture of their intimate routine - maybe not your cup of erotica or mine, but the deal is theirs to make.

I have also met, interviewed and candidly admired a fair few prostitutes. I especially liked one gal, very top-end, who had coolly calculated it to be the least toil for the most money, in hours to suit herself, then insisted upon comparing her wages with mine. When it turned out that my week paid her afternoon, she genuinely found my career choice mystifying.

And I shall never forget cheery Miss Whiplash, cosy as a buttered scone, who interrupted delicious tell-tales of famous toffs to pop into the dungeon next door and tighten a thumbscrew.

Such women are in absolute command of their destinies and Miss MacTaggart has no business whatsoever to interfere. She would say there is the nastier end: the girls working the streets to pay for drugs. But she must not confuse herself here. These girls' problem is not prostitution, it is addiction. Without one way to earn their fix, they would find another; anybody who really thinks that hindering commercial access to their genital parts would cure their habit knows as little about sex as they do about drugs and, indeed, one fears for their grasp of rock'n'roll.

Where Miss MacTaggart and I might share a concern, however, is not for what prostitutes do on the streets or at home or in a sauna or massage parlour, but for how they got there. Did they choose or were they chosen? Were they already into drugs or deliberately inveigled into the first taste?

In other words, where the state should come in is not by grabbing votes with promises to smack people just for acting smutty, but by addressing the much graver issue of coercion. If we left to themselves those who elected to trade and focused efforts, instead, on rescuing those who do not, then we'd be clearing up our 'blight'.

How? I hoped you'd ask. For credit where credit is (perhaps surprisingly) due. Turkey has shown an interesting lead in the protection of human rights among trafficked women. Six months ago, it set up a well-publicised hotline for women under sexual duress; since then, 100 women have been rescued from slavery and 10 trafficking networks have been busted.

The really interesting thing, though, is that three-quarters of the tip-offs came not from the frightened women but, anonymously, from their clients. It seems that men do, after all, have a pretty good idea when their 'date' is unwilling and, in Turkey anyway, also muster some guilt about it.

Miss MacTaggart, at slender cost, could offer British men a shot at it. At least the potential benefit would be to real victims; both a worthier and a more realistic project than sweeping away prostitution, in its entirety, with 'tough measures', 'clamping down' and dear old 'zero tolerance'

Behind every insincere statement of concern for health and welfare lurks a nutter who simply thinks that they are holier than thou and that their miserable views on sex should be inflicted on the rest of the population.

Note the total absence of groups representing customers of adult entertainment.

Based on an article from the Evening Telegraph

An official consultation exercise has claimed support for tighter control over Scotland’s adult entertainment industry.

Groups including Dundee City and Perth and Kinross councils, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Scottish Trades Union Congress have come down in favour of regulating entertainments such as erotic dancing and pornography.

Their views were made known to the adult entertainment working group, which was set up by the Scottish Executive to look into the extent of the industry, its impact on society and whether any changes in the law were needed.

Two senior figures from Dundee City Council, administration leader Jill Shimi and depute chief executive Patricia McIlquham, are members of the working group.

The consultation attracted more than 50 responses from councils, licensing boards, community safety partnerships, women’s groups and the Church of Scotland, along with individuals. More than 80% of them said the adult entertainment industry should be controlled. An analysis of the results found that 24% of respondents felt such activities and clubs should be banned or shut down.

It was, however, recognised by some that this might not be a realistic option, and therefore much tighter controls were required to protect the rights and physical and emotional health of the performers. The onus should be on the employers to enforce these controls, with the threat of heavy penalties if situations occur where the performers’ rights are compromised, the analysis said.

Some of the suggestions made include giving local authorities the power to refuse licences, giving communities the right to object to licences being granted, regular monitoring to ensure compliance with licence conditions, restrictions on the way clubs are allowed to advertise and police background checks on licence holders.

The consultees’ views on the scope of the adult entertainment industry varied, although lap, pole and table dancing and stripping generally topped the list. Pornography, saunas and prostitution were also included. The impact of adult entertainment was viewed as strongly negative on performers, the audience and the general public alike. More than 60% felt performers were left feeling degraded, lacking in self-esteem, and open to abuse and at an increased risk of rape, sexual assault and harassment. Concerns were also expressed about their health, including sexually transmitted infections, stress and alcohol or drug abuse.

A similar percentage thought audiences for adult entertainment predominantly consisted of men, with women providing the performances for their pleasure … It was thought this presented a negative and demeaning view of women.

It was also believed that men may develop “unhealthy attitudes”, damaging their relationships with women and having a knock-on effect on family life. There was also a significant degree of worry about the wider impact of the industry, with the risk that it promoted gender inequality and could lead to women being objectified by men and seen as inferior.

The findings will be considered by the working group as it continues its deliberations. It is due in April to make its recommendations on the future approach to the adult entertainment industry.

I am always fascinated to the depths that nutters go to deprive their fellow man of sexual pleasure.

The Government force sex workers to work outside of the protection of legal employment then whinge that the money goes to fund drugs and crime. The negative sides to sex work are surely the Government's fault and it should be of no concern to the customer who just wants to enjoy some sexual entertainment. Maybe the price of a trick should be considered a political donation to those willing to fight the nasty minded nutters in the British Government.

Previously in her career, Fiona MacNutter was the chairperson of Liberty. This must make for a classic shameful inference: I believe in Liberty... BUT...not for sex workers

Based on an article from The Guardian

The government will announce plans next month for a national zero tolerance campaign against kerb crawlers and street prostitution after shelving plans to introduce licensed "red light" zones, the Guardian has learned.
The proposals are expected to form a key part of the next phase of Tony Blair's drive against antisocial behaviour. Kerb crawlers will risk having their driving licences confiscated and being named and shamed in local newspapers.

The shameful Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart told the Guardian that it was wrong to regard those involved in prostitution as sex workers. She said tough measures were needed to tackle the markets for prostitution. I'm not tolerant of the view that prostitution is the oldest profession in the world and there's nothing we can do to reduce it. Prostitution blights communities. We will take a zero tolerance approach to kerb crawling. Men who choose to use prostitutes are indirectly supporting drug dealers and abusers. The power to confiscate driving licences already exists. We want the police to use that power more.

The police are expected to be encouraged to set up safe houses and other schemes to help the women involved get out of the trade. Greater efforts will also be made to close brothels masquerading as massage parlours and saunas.

Ministers are expected to rule out overhauling the 50-year-old prostitution laws, a decision that spells the end for plans floated by the previous home secretary, David Blunkett, 18 months ago to give local authorities discretion to set up tolerance zones, small licensed brothels and a register of prostitutes.

Cities such as Liverpool have been pressing hard to be given the power to set up these legal zones. Ms MacNutter, however, said effective policing rather than an overhaul of the laws was the answer.

The Home Office estimates 80,000 people are involved in the vice trade. However the number of women cautioned for soliciting fell from 3,323 in 1993 to 732 in 2000. Middlesbrough is responsible for 25% of all national convictions for kerb crawling, and ministers want to see its zero tolerance campaign replicated.

Prostitution has been allowed to slip off the agenda somewhat. I want to ensure our good work on trafficking is joined-up with a prostitution strategy that helps women out of prostitution but also deals with the demand for prostitutes, Ms MacNutter said.

Ministers also want better access for women to health checks, drug treatment and housing and to make them safer from violent attacks.

Niki Adams, a spokeswoman for the English Prostitutes' Collective, said the plans would force women into more dangerous conditions. It's going to have an absolutely devastating impact. The government is just using the promise of access to more services as a cover for their very repressive policies.

From HamHigh

Prostitutes in Camden should not be punished with anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos), according to a new report from the London Assembly. The Assembly's Safer London Committee has urged the Home Office to provide more funding for out-of-hours referral services and charities that help vulnerable people.

The report found that of the nine London boroughs where street prostitution is a problem, Camden has issued the highest number of Asbos against sex workers.  It concluded that an Asbo criminalises the individual when what they are doing is not illegal and recommended a review of the use of the orders for prostitutes.

The English Collective of Prostitutes, based in Kentish Town, provided evidence for the report and welcomed the committee's finding that Asbos are an inadequate way of dealing with prostitution.

Sara Walker, who works for the collective, said: Camden is slapping Asbos on women, which deny them access to certain areas. Very often they are areas where they get free condoms or access to services. They are driven into back streets which are more dangerous and the clients are more likely to be violent."

Camden Council issued 15 Asbos against prostitutes between April 1999 and December 2004, although none was issued purely for being a sex worker.

Ian Walker, the council's anti-social behaviour officer, said: We totally reject the assertion that our approach, using Asbos, together with support services, is wrong. We only ever use Asbos for sex workers when they are causing concern for others - for example through drug use. It cannot be better for drug-using sex workers to stay on the streets of King's Cross where they are vulnerable."

Based on an article from ic Coventry

Hundreds of nutters have signed a petition against plans to open Warwickshire's first lap-dancing club in Rugby. They quoted the usual location bollox  of a church, a youth club and a marriage guidance office, the headquarters of Relate.

Nutters collected 400 signatures from people who do not want semi-naked women dancing for money in their town.

Pub boss Shaun Sharam wants to open the strictly adults-only club in the former Cairo Jaxx nightclub in Church Walk, Rugby town centre.  He has already converted the interior and has applied for an old condition preventing lap-dancing at the site to be lifted.

From the Welwyn & Hatfield Times

An escort agency in Hatfield was hit in a series of dawn raids by police. Four people were arrested as vice unit officers searched four addresses in the town at 5am on Thursday.

Operation Bateria was led by the Metropolitan Police and backed by Hertfordshire Constabulary.

Targeted properties included what is thought to be the agency's HQ. It is alleged the agency has girls working in Herts, Greater London, Berks, Bucks, Beds, Essex, Kent, Cambridgeshire and Surrey. It is believed to be the largest escort agency in the south east.

Three men and a woman, were arrested on suspicion of controlling prostitution and money laundering. All four have been bailed to return to police in January. [As far as I can see money laundering is now defined in the law to mean anything dishonest. Nothing to do with mafia type operations. No doubt local rags will continue to use the term in a weighted manner to suggest that crimes are worse than they really are]

Detective inspector Gary Young from the Met's club and vice unit said: These arrests are part of the unit's continued activity to crack down on structures that support the vice trade. This includes important work with our partners and neighbouring forces where the industry is crossing borders. We, together with Hertfordshire, are committed to continuing work like this to disrupt and eradicate the exploitation of women."

Detective inspector John Chapman, of Hertfordshire Constabulary, said: This operation is designed to target people who trade in the exploitation of others and these raids send a message that we are not willing to house them in our community.

Based on an article from ic Wales

Topless pole dancers at a seaside nightclub have provoked anger amongst local nutters.. Aberystwyth nightspot Club Yoko's began staging the controversial shows last week when new licensing laws came into force.

On the S4C current affairs programme Y Byd Ar Bedwar , Ceredigion AM Elin Jones deplores the shows, describing them as immoral and degrading: I'm extremely disappointed that this type of thing is being allowed to happen in a place like Aberystwyth. It really is very worrying. This kind of thing is harmful to the image of women. It's so degrading. I also have very serious worries about the women who do things like pole dancing and lap dancing, and believe that many of them are being exploited.

A student union women's officer prude at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, agreed with the AM. It really is disgusting,' said Menna Jones who went with the programme to see the club's first topless dancing show. I was shocked by what I saw. Some of the things these dancers were doing were very explicit. I'm not a prude by any means, BUT... I just wasn't comfortable at all watching that.

Jones also said she was saddened to see the reaction of some of the men in the 200-strong audience. Some men had perched themselves in seats there right at the front, and cheered like a sad bunch of perverts,' she said.

But Club Yoko's manageress, Eleri Ifan, said protesters were over-reacting. It's all harmless fun. No one has to come here if they don't want to. We're not doing anything wrong here. Ceredigion Council have granted us a licence to do this, and we're complying with the conditions set out in that licence.

After 1.30am the club is also allowed to stage lap dancing in one of a handful of private booths. Here women take all their clothes off for customers who pay them £20 for a private dance behind a set of curtains.

Ceredigion County Council has granted the controversial adult entertainment licence to two other places in the Aberystwyth area. Licensing officer Dafydd Roberts said it was difficult to refuse applications made under the new law.

From The Scotsman

Margo MacDonald has abandoned her high-profile campaign to allow councils to run tolerance zones because she says new legislation gives local authorities the powers to provide support services wherever prostitutes gather. MacDonald, Independent MSP, said last night that the welfare and provision of health and drug counselling for streetworkers had been her aim from the outset.

MacDonald said she had decided to withdraw her bill from the parliamentary process after the Scottish Executive published hard-hitting proposals on kerb-crawling which also allows local authorities to manage prostitution in their areas. She said the plans, including making clear the duty of care councils had towards prostitutes and the community, were a step beyond the old notion of tolerance zones.

However, MacDonald denied the new law would allow local authorities to create tolerance zones in all but name. She highlighted the "recognised red-light area" in Aberdeen where there were very few houses but a drop-in centre relatively nearby as a model which was likely to continue: I am not advocating 'managed zones' as geographical places where prostitutes gather. 'Managed zones' are a concept to where resources are delivered by agencies such as local authorities, health trusts and police.

She added: In Edinburgh there are places still in the docks area which the council might decide would be a bit more suitable for women to be soliciting and I think the women would go there. And I think there would be a negotiation amongst the agencies concerned - health, police, voluntary and advice agencies and so on - and the services would be located in that area.

MacDonald twice lodged bills at Holyrood which would have allowed councils to establish so-called tolerance zones where women could tout for business without fear of prosecution and receive health, educational and other support. This was a response to the demise of the unofficial tolerance zone in Edinburgh's Leith district in 2001, which resulted from the gradual rise in residential properties in the red-light area.

MacDonald yesterday conceded that the term tolerance zone had "bedeviled" the debate, despite her assurances that she was not endorsing prostitution.

After her first bill was defeated, ministers set up an expert group in 2003 to review the law. Following the group's report, deputy justice minister Hugh Henry pledged on 1 November to end the anomaly of only prostitutes being criminalised for their activities.

The new offence, to be introduced through a new Sentencing Bill by 2007, will focus on the nuisance or harm arising from street prostitution-related activities, whether caused by seller or purchaser.

Based upon an article from ic Coventry

A lap dancing club could be up and running before Christmas after being given the go ahead.

Councillors agreed to let the Red bar, in the heart of the city's main shopping area, become a venue for pole and lap dancing - despite objections.

There had been claims by nutters that the club in City Arcade would be bad for the city centre's image.

Licensing chiefs granted a late licence at a hearing yesterday. It means the lap dancing club can open until 4am on most days.

Based upon an article from the BBC

Nutters against street prostitution have held a protest outside Holyrood "dressed like tarts". They handed in a letter complaining that proposed new Scottish laws on the vice trade do not go far enough.

Ministers have unveiled plans under which kerb crawlers would face criminal charges, as well as prostitutes.

However, members of the Leith Links Residents Association said penalties must be tougher. They called for anti- social behaviour orders to be used. Spokesman Ben White said: We feel that there is very little action being taken by the Scottish Executive and indeed the legal system regarding the issue of prostitution around this area. We want to see these recent laws go much further and to be more robust."

White said that his group had petitioned the executive to come up with more robust legislation a year ago. They were informed that anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) would be used to stop prostitutes coming into the area, he said. White added: Only four Asbos have been served over the past two years and three of those were interim.

Edinburgh councillor Sheila Gilmour said: Our commitment is to protect the communities from the consequences of this behaviour. I think Asbos probably are not yet doing enough. I'm not sure it is the best remedy. One of the reasons is that we want to see the new legislation from the parliament. It seems right to me that we should dealing not just with the seller but with the buyer. Without buyers there would be no prostitution. It does depend upon the new law being properly enforced by the courts, more than the existing law is.We have had some difficulties with the courts and sheriffs in this regard.

Figures from 2004 estimate that there are about 1,400 street prostitutes operating in Scotland.

The new legislation should be in force by 2007.

Based upon an article from Yorkshire Post Today

Research has been carried out in Doncaster that could lead to the creation of a "managed zone" for prostitutes, it has emerged.

Doncaster Council has conducted a study into six areas where, potentially, such a zone could be established, to rid residential areas of prostitution where girls work on the streets. Doncaster Council has confirmed the sites it has examined as St Sepulchre Gate West; Marshgate/Power Station Road; Wharf Road/Chappell Drive; Middle Bank, off White Rose Way; Kelham Street, Balby Bridge; and Carr Hill, Balby. It insists that the research was hypothetical and finished around six months ago. No action had been taken to move the suggestion forward since then.

If the scheme goes ahead, it could become the first in the country to follow the example of the Continent, where in some places prostitution is tolerated but actively controlled by the authorities.

It is understood a change in the law would be needed to make the Doncaster scheme workable and the council would need co-operation from South Yorkshire Police to enforce it.

Doncaster Mayor Martin Winter said: There are no detailed plans in place to introduce tolerance zones in Doncaster. When we decide to implement such zones it will be after full consultation with local people, the police and support organisations such as Streetreach. Earlier this year we looked at a few areas as part of research into how we can best deal with prostitution in Doncaster. I am committed to tackling this problem which damages lives and causes misery for local residents. The safety of prostitutes and the well-being of residents are my priorities and I will not rule anything out in my search for a solution to the issue of prostitution in Doncaster,.

Based upon an article from ic Liverpool

Lives are being put at risk because of the Government's failure to respond to calls for a managed prostitution zone, a city councillor claimed last night.

Cllr Richard Marbrow wrote to the Home Office after prostitute Anne-Marie Foy was murdered in the heart of Liverpool's red-light district. It is feared the 46-year-old mother-of-four was killed by a serial attacker.  Cllr Marbrow, executive member for community safety, asked ministers to make a decision on the city's plans to set up "safe areas" for sex workers. In the letter he argued that the people of Liverpool are in the "worst possible situation", with unregulated vice zones causing outrage among residents and exposing prostitutes to danger.

But he has been told he will have to wait at least another month for a response.

He said: "It's bureaucracy gone mad. Pen pushers in London are putting lives at risk by shuffling papers from one department to another instead of giving us a reply. All we need is a simple yes or no so we can go ahead with our plans our find an alternative. They have got a department to acknowledge letters and a unit to track where the letters are but no-one can come up with an answer to them. I've been told it will be at least be the middle to end of November before we hear anything.

We originally wrote to the Government 18 months ago about this issue and were told it would be dealt with straight after the General Election. That hasn't happened and the need to act is more pressing than ever in light of what has happened."

Miss Foy, from Kensington, was strangled and beaten to death before her body was dumped behind bushes in the heart of Liverpool's red-light district last month. It followed a number of attacks on prostitutes, whose faces had been slashed. Detectives believe her killer used a blunt weapon during what appears to have been a frenzied attack. Police patrols were stepped up round the red-light area, which runs near several University of Liverpool buildings.

The Government is carrying out a review of how city authorities deal with prostitution before deciding on the proposal for a managed zone. After months of research, Liverpool councillors voted in favour of applying for what would be the first zone.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: We are in the middle of a comprehensive review of prostitution following an extensive public consultation last year. It includes the option of managed zones. We understand Liverpool is keen to pilot managed areas but there is no legal provision for that at the moment. We are in the process of developing a strategy, which will be announced next year."

Based upon articles from ic Coventry

Coventry is set to have a lap dancing club in the city centre.

A Birmingham firm wants to turn the Red bar in the City Arcade into a club featuring semi-naked women dancing around poles - and the venue could be open by Christmas.

Russell Kenny, a director of Ace Ltd, has taken over the lease on the building and wants to employ 15 dancers who would perform pole dancing and lap dancing.

He says it would be run as a nightspot open to the public rather than the sort of private members clubs that have made Birmingham the “lap dancing capital of the UK”.

Kenny said the dancers would strip down to G-strings and there would be a strict “no touching” rule. He insisted there would be a “sophisticated” atmosphere.

A public hearing will now be held into the plans after a last minute objection from a church nutter and a city councillor.

Prudish Viv Gasteen, Methodist Central Hall minister, lodged an eleventh hour objection to plans to convert the Red bar in the City Arcade in to a pole and lap dancing venue. He  said: I'm not a prude and none of my family are prudes. I have three grown up sons and six grandchildren aged between eight and 23 and so I know what young people enjoy. BUT... there is a limit.

City councillor Dave Nellist (Socialist, St Michael's) has also lodged an objection, saying that 'such entertainment would go against licensing committee objectives. These are prevention of public nuisance, protection of children from harm, prevention of crime and disorder and public safety.

From the Daily Record

Men who pay for sex with street prostitutes will be targeted by new Scottish laws announced today. Ministers will unveil a legal shake-up designed to cut street prostitution. And for the first time, the laws will apply to the buyers as well as the people who sell their bodies.

The offence of soliciting, which punishes hookers for attempting to sell sex, is to be scrapped. In its place will be a new offence of buying or selling sex in a way that causes alarm or nuisance. Penalties will be tougher with fines of up to £500.

At present, women convicted of soliciting are fined £75 on average for a first offence Local councils will also be given permission to set up "managed areas" where street prostitution would not constitute a nuisance. But they would be allowed to set up such zones only if health, welfare and counselling services were available to prostitutes. Councils will also have to provide help to women who wish to stop working as prostitutes.

The new laws will be unveiled by deputy justice minister Hugh Henry this morning.

They follow a report last December by an expert panel led by former Strathclyde assistant chief constable Sandra Hood.

Ruth Morgan Thomas, project manager at the Scottish Prostitutes' Education Programme, welcomed the new law. She said: Women want to be treated fairly

From EDP 24

A landlady's idea to liven up her pub by encouraging the staff to go topless have been slammed by a councillor who says it could turn Lowestoft into a "seedy" place like Yarmouth.

The idea started as a bar-side joke after the new landlady of the New Globe Inn on the High Street, Maxine Griffiths, couldn't shake the pub's old image, leaving the bar empty and the takings low.

But now an advertisement in the local job centre has raised concerns that the move will lead to lap-dancing clubs and sex shops along the seafront.

She said: I spent a year trying to change the pub's reputation and I thought I've got to do something to get people in here. The bar was empty, people just weren't coming in.

But the move has been met with anger from ex-mayor & prude Terry Kelly. He said: I'm not a prude BUT... I don't think sex shops and lap-dancing clubs are a good idea, and I don't think I would like to see Lowestoft going that way.

I know this is a topless bar but Lowestoft is a family resort, can't we leave the lap-dancing to Yarmouth? Hopefully in Lowestoft we can hold our heads a bit higher than that. I worked in Yarmouth for a long time, but it is seedy and these sort of clubs appeal to those sort of people.

However, Griffiths said: It is not going to be a lap-dancing club and it is not going to be seedy, also we have got door staff to prevent trouble, it is just meant to be a bit of fun. Personally I like to look at a nice young man so if people can come here, have a drink and look at the bar staff I'm not sure what's wrong with that.

Waveney District Council spokesman David Holland said: From a licensing point of view they don't need a special licence, they can start when they want.

And Suffolk Police spokeswoman Anne-Marie Breach said: As far as we are concerned we will only intervene if it causes a public nuisance. So long as the pub is adhering to licence conditions and the topless bar staff are not in the public view from outside the bar then the police would not get involved."

I see that forcing girls to have sex is an abhorrent crime but somehow think that it is a very small part of the business. I think that the vast majority of foreign girls offer sex totally consensually and the only element of illegality is that some are working without a visa.

It would seem ludicrous that normal customers would ever get to know any reasons why the girl is working. It would be an absolute nightmare situation if a working girl told you she is working against her will. Guido the killer pimp may be in the next room and if you kicked up a fuss or walked out without paying then he may assume that the games is up. The girl and/or customer may end up getting murdered.

Of course any men who knowingly seek out girls in this situation surely deserve to be prosecuted. But there does not seem to be any justification whatsoever for the politicians to misleadingly suggest that the high demand for foreign girls means that there are a large number of customers who seek out girls working under duress.

From The Guardian

Men who have sex with trafficked prostitutes should be charged with rape, ministers believe - a move that could see thousands prosecuted.

Home Office minister Tony McNulty told The Observer: Whenever a man knowingly has sex with a woman against her will, that is rape. For example, if a trafficked woman told a man who had paid to have sex with her that she was engaged in prostitution under duress, then he could not reasonably believe that she was freely consenting. To go ahead regardless would be rape.

McNulty's statement marks a significant shift towards criminalising men who pay for sex. Men are not now considered to have committed an offence, although it is illegal for women to solicit and for men to 'kerb crawl' or to pimp women.

This week the UK and Sweden, where paying for sex is criminalised, will host a seminar in Brussels on trafficking, an issue the government has made a key priority during its European Union presidency. Ministers are increasingly concerned at the growing numbers of women tricked into the sex trade by criminal gangs.

The Metropolitan police believes trafficked women coerced into prostitution are often forced to see between 20 and 30 men a day.

In London alone, it is thought that up to 80,000 men regularly pay for sex. Internet sites in the UK suggest the demand among British men for foreign prostitutes is significant, with message boards exchanging comments on women throughout the world.

The former Europe minister Denis MacShane, who has campaigned for a crackdown on trafficking, said: It's time for honest language. When a man has sex with a frightened, beaten and intimidated woman there is only word to describe it and that is rape. I am pleased that the Home Office now recognises that. We need to see charges against men who have sex with women who are living in fear after being trafficked.

Although no official figures exist for how many women and girls are trafficked into the UK each year, research by the Home Office suggests around 1,400 women are thought to be smuggled into Britain annually for prostitution.

Amnesty International recently met with the new Solicitor General, Mike O'Brien, who also indicated that he wanted to do more to tighten the law.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK director, urged police prosecute men who pay for sex with trafficked women. The law on rape is already clear. The police and criminal justice authorities must be willing to enforce it and ensure that all victims of rape receive the full protection of the law,'she said

Based on an article from The Scotsman

Edinburgh nutters have vowed to renew vigilante patrols in a fresh bid to rid Leith of prostitutes.

Placard-wielding groups of protesters are planning to confront the vice girls as they tout for business on residential streets. The move is in protest at what nutters say is a lack of action by the police and council to tackle the problem. Only three antisocial behaviour orders have been served on working girls in the last two years.

Other protests are being considered over the next few weeks at the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood, the law courts and outside the base of a prostitute support group.

The Leith Links Residents' Association claims that more and more residential streets are reporting problems with prostitutes. Patrols were first mounted in the spring of 2003, inflaming tensions between the residents' association and the local prostitute support group Scotpep, which accused the campaigners of harassment and intimidation.

They were called off by the campaign group after pledges by the council and the police to deploy antisocial behaviour orders against the vice girls.

But Rob Kirkwood, chair of the residents' association, said: We are not at all happy that just three Asbos have been served to date, especially after so many of us spent a great deal of time collating evidence and compiling diaries about the activities of prostitutes in the area.

We feel that the council, in particular, have not been pro-active enough in clamping down on the problem and what's happening now is that it is gradually moving to other areas, such as side streets off the Links and Claremont Park, where it hasn't been an issue before.

We have been told by the council and the police that the courts are reluctant to issue Asbos in the belief that they are not an appropriate way of dealing with prostitutes, that is why we're looking at having a demonstration there. We have a red-light district on our doorstep and yet it seems so difficult to get anything done about these prostitutes. There must be at least 20 of them operating in this area on a regular basis.

The Executive is still to decide whether to press ahead with new legislation that would allow the creation of designated tolerance zones as well as the creation of a new offence which would target people either buying or selling sex, from causing alarm, offence or embarrassment to the public.

Lorne councillor Phil Attridge said: There's no doubt there's been further displacement of street prostitution recently and complaints are coming forward from people who have not had to experience it before.  My own view is that the council is doing all it can at the moment, under the existing legislation. It's really up to the Scottish Parliament to get on with producing new legislation.

A spokesman for the city council said today: For their own safety we would encourage people not to patrol areas used by prostitutes. If anybody is dissatisfied with the work of either the council or the police then we would ask them to contact us directly to discuss the matter.

Based on an article from the Northwest Evening Mail

Despite massive efforts from the local council to oppose it, table dancing will be coming to Barrow after all.

Soon half naked dancers will be doing their thing at Evolution, in Holker Street. After battling public opinion, some prejudices and the council, promoters of Barrow's first lap-dancing club is finally opening it's doors next Friday.

Backers promise a new kind of experience for Barrow night life, claiming it will be classy, safe, relaxed and trouble free. In the private dancing area bikini bottoms will stay on.The claim is that lap-dancers on the main stage might be in catsuits, racing suits and bikinis but they will not be nude.

Up to 20 girls from all over the North West will be dancing on any one night at the former Bluebird Club. Entrance fee to the club will be £5 with an extra £5 for private dances in a closed off area. It will be open seven nights a week from 8pm to 1am and till midnight on Sundays.

Based on an article from the Sutton Guardian

A political row has erupted after a survey by Conservative councillors revealed opposition to an application for a lap dancing club in Sutton.

Equipped with megaphones and trestle tables, the Conservatives took to the High Street for three weekends in a row and surveyed nearly 1,000 shoppers on the plans for a new nightspot in St Nicholas Road.

After collating the results, the Tories said 93 per cent of respondents were against a lap dancing club being allowed in town.

The Liberal Democrats, however, claim the Tories run the risk of "fettering their judgement" when the application comes to committee and may not be able to vote on the scheme. The group has also stressed that just because it had not issued a blanket condemnation of the proposal, it should not be inferred councillors would ignore public concerns.

Lead councillor for planning Leslie Coman (Lib Dem) said the Conservatives had misunderstood their responsibilities in the planning process and that all applications had the right to be heard fairly.

She also raised the question of whether the council's monitoring officer would need to look at the Conservatives' activities to see if they ran the risk of being excluded from determining the fate of the application altogether.

To "fetter your judgement" in town planning means to have made up your mind or appeared to have made up your mind about a planning matter before all sides are heard. A council which comes to a decision but is shown to have fettered judgement risks legal proceedings

Updated 22nd September

Based on an article from EDP24

Nutters of a Norfolk seaside resort have reacted with predictable disbelief at plans to allow lap-dancing in their village. The Silver Sands Beach Club, at Heacham, wants to hold adult entertainment nights with kissagrams, pole-dancers and strippers.

Owner Charmain Appleton said yesterday it was just a bit of fun, but some caravan owners who holiday near the venue are distraught. It will attract all the wrong people, this is not Thailand.

Nutters in the quiet resort have also expressed dismay, and North-West Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham said the plans would drag Heacham downmarket. It is a very small-scale resort with a very established clientele and I wouldn't imagine there would be the demand for this sort of adult entertainment.

The application is being considered by West Norfolk Council's licensing committee today. Appleton, who runs the venue with her husband Lawrence, has applied to extend Silver Sands' opening hours and for permission to hold dance performances.

A licensing application seen by the EDP shows the club has asked for permission to host "semi-nude dancing" and "lap-dancing" nights. Customers at the venue will also be able to book stripograms and kissagrams for their own entertainment. The adult evenings would be held irregularly, and Silver Sands has promised to put up signs outside the venue to warn visitors if they are on. Appleton has also told the licensing committee the club will specify "adults only" in all advertising of the events.

Update 22nd September:

Lap and pole dancing is set to be a feature at a Heacham club, it was decided yesterday.

Silver Sands Beach Club has been granted permission to allow stripograms and kissograms booked by customers to perform in its North Beach premises, and pole and lap dancing will also be allowed.

The decision was made by West Norfolk Council's licensing sub-committee yesterday afternoon.
An application, made to the sub-committee, stated no under- 18s would be in the club from 8pm when such events were held, adverts would specify "adults only", and signs would be displayed on entrances when it was known kissograms and stripograms were planned.

The club also applied to extend its licensing hours from 10am until 1am, which was granted, along with its application to have entertainment including recorded music and live bands playing from 8pm to 1am.

Based on an article from ic Chester

Lap dancing is coming to Chester city centre before Christmas in the Platinum Lounge in the building formerly occupied by the On The Air broadcasting museum in Bridge Street Row.

A £250,000 project to 'sympathetically' refurbish the interior of the listed building is about to start, with the opening scheduled for the beginning of November. Businessman Philip Archer-Jones, who is behind the venture, said: I think Chester is ready for it. Every major city or town has got one.

When a table top dancing club opened in an upstairs room of a Chester pub five years ago there was a furore. But when plans for Platinum Lounge were unveiled earlier this year the reaction was low key. Even residents who live near the venue were indifferent.

He expects the clientele will be mainly male and from professional backgrounds but says it is 'quite surprising' how many women are also attracted by the environment.

There will be an admission fee, as yet undecided, with the charge per dance expected to be about £10. Bar prices are expected to be in line with Watergate Street venues. Initially, the venue will be open from midday until 12.30am.

Councillors have slapped on no less than 32 conditions at the premises, which will be allowed to accommodate up to 175 customers. These include: no private performances taking place of an adult nature; and no audience participation.

Based on an article from Cambridge News

One of the men behind the plans for a lap dancing club in Newmarket has spoken of his disappointment that the scheme has been rejected for a second time by council planners. Jason Newell and business partner Rob Bell had hoped that they could overcome objections to the scheme to convert disused offices in the High Street to a "gentleman's club."

The latest application had a smaller audience capacity at the club than the proposal rejected last year. That scheme had a total capacity of 186 but the latest scheme had a capacity of 110.

Forest Heath District Council planners rejected the latest proposal on the same grounds as last year's - that it could increase crime and disorder in the town and would harm character of the town's conservation area.

Insp Mark Larner, the town's police sector commander, expressed concern that the scheme would add to the numbers of people on the streets at the weekends and put extra strain on police resources.

But Newell said claims the club would increase noise and disturbance to people living nearby in The Avenue were "totally false." He said: We have obtained many reports from other councils across the country that have lap dancing clubs in their area to prove that this type of entertainment will not cause any further trouble in the area. If anything it deters violence.

He accused the council of "moving the goalposts" by allowing totally nude lap dancing at a club opposite the Lakenheath American Air Force base.

Councillors who approved the Lakenheath club's licence made it clear that they were not setting a precedent for similar clubs elsewhere in the district.

Based on an article from The Scotsman

Edinburgh leaders have imposed a ban on prostitutes touting for business on residential streets in Leith, it emerged today.  Warning letters are being issued against vice girls for the first time as a measure to stop them operating in and around Leith Links.

The local authority has joined forces with the police to try to restrict prostitution in residential streets shortly after a second vice girl was served with an antisocial behaviour order (Asbo).  Officers in the council's anti-social behaviour division - accompanied by police officers - have issued eight warning letters to prostitutes in and around the Leith Links area in the last few weeks. The council today said it wanted to tell prostitutes that their continued presence in residential areas will not be tolerated.

Leith vice girl Sarah Marsden was hit with an Asbo at the beginning of July over complaints about her behaviour from local residents. She was said to have used threatening and intimidating language towards householders, many of whom told the council they were afraid to leave their homes after dark.

Community leaders and councillors in Leith are campaigning for an official tolerance zone to be set up in the Capital, despite the number of vice girls operating locally slumping in the four years since the scrapping of the city's unofficial red light district.

The Evening News revealed last month how the number of vice girls working the streets of Edinburgh had fallen by more than two-thirds, to 93.

The letters being issued to the vice girls, which begins "Dear Madam", goes on to state: Please note that the City of Edinburgh Council will apply for an anti-social behaviour order should you continue to solicit in residential areas.

Based on an article from the Sutton Guardian

Strippers could be coming to town even sooner than was previously thought after it emerged that an application to allow nudity at a Sutton night-spot has already been granted.

Just three weeks after an application for a lap dancing club was submitted by leisure firm Horne & Hall, the Sutton Guardian can reveal that Chicago Rock Caf has had a licence to allow nudity in its bar approved by Sutton Council.

Luminar, which owns the club in Throwley Road, has said the licence will allow strippers booked by customers to perform acts for up to 10 minutes as part of hen parties and stag nights.

But Conservative councillors said they were unaware of the application and claimed they had been denied the chance to scrutinise an important development in the town centre's nightlife. Conservative group leader Councillor Eleanor Pinfold said she was "appalled" by the decision. She added it would contribute to a further decline in Sutton's public perception.

A spokesman for Sutton Council said the application was publicly advertised for a month and that councillors had had every opportunity to object to it.

He said the only objection the council had received was from Sutton police, after Luminar applied to remove a clause from the licence that prohibited full nudity. The police withdrew their objection after a meeting with licensing officers from Sutton Council and representatives from Luminar, where it was agreed that full nudity would not be allowed. If the company did not agree to the police's objections the matter would have gone to committee, the spokesman added.

A spokeswoman for Luminar stressed the venue would not be putting on strip shows of its own. We would only wish this to be in place for customers who have booked a table for a hen party or stag night to book a striptease or stripogram act and not for the public to be entertained.

  Nutters want License to Control

Based on an article from The Scotsman

Pubs and clubs hosting lapdancing, topless displays, pole dancing and even strip-o-grams will have to apply for special entertainment licences under plans put forward by Edinburgh council chiefs.

Only cinemas and theatres would be exempt from new legislation on adult entertainment after city leaders revealed plans for more control. They claim a new law is needed to protect workers from "exploitation, prostitution and slavery," while also curbing the possibility of crimes being committed.

And the council is likely to be backed by Lothian and Borders Police chiefs, who have previously expressed concern about the lack of controls available over Edinburgh's lapdancing establishments.

The council is set to tell the Scottish Executive it wants special powers to be granted to local authorities so that it can curb the number of licensed premises offering lapdancing on the grounds of over-provision in a certain area, or when they are too close to schools, large residential areas and places of worship.

The local authority has also called for research to be carried out into the impact of alcohol being on sale in licensed premises offering adult entertainment, including the effect on audience members and local communities.

Officials in the City Chambers believe that any new law aimed at tightening the regime for strip clubs should also cover strip-o-grams, screenings of adult videos and DVDs, and should not just refer to male audiences and female performers. It has urged the Executive to bring in or amend existing legislation so that there is full control of any premises offering or selling adult entertainment.

An expert group, set up in February by Public Services Minister Tom McCabe, has been charged with studying the full gamut of the adult entertainment industry and bringing forward proposals on how to control it more. But attempts by the city council to persuade the Executive to grant the authority special powers have so far stalled, even though the group contains a city councillor in Lorna Shiels.

Councillors will now meet on Tuesday to discuss the authority's response to an official consultation mounted by the working group aimed at defining adult entertainment, its impact and how it should be controlled. The council's proposed definition of adult entertainment does not include saunas or massage parlours, nor prostitution, as these are being explored by a separate Executive task force.

Robert Millar, the council's chief licensing solicitor, said theatres and cinemas should also be exempt from any adult entertainment legislation because they are already separately regulated.

And pub owners can escape the need for a licence by insisting that adult entertainment is not their main line of business.

City licensing leader, Shameful Phil Attridge, said It's something we've been asking for years now. We're not trying to ban anything and we're not moralising, BUT... we just want to ensure there are not too many of these places in the one area and that they're not opening up next to schools and churches.

Catherine Harper, nutter of the Scottish Women Against Pornography Campaign, predictably said: We will be arguing very strongly against any of these lapdancing clubs being allowed at all. As far as we're concerned, people who are working in these places are simply prostituting themselves.

The Executive's working group is led by Linda Costelloe Baker, the Scottish legal service ombudsman. The group is due to report to ministers in the spring of 2006. Also on the task force are Dr Sharon Cowan, from Edinburgh University's law school, and Dr Catherine Kennedy, from the school of psychology and sociology at Napier University

From Wired by Regina Lynn

I don't know whether to be amazed or scared that the adult industry and the Bush administration agree about something. When the extremes come together, where's the middle ground for the rest of us to stand on?
I used to think a .xxx domain was a no-brainer. I envisioned it as an indicator that a site contained sexually explicit material intended for adults. That way we could put all the porn in one convenient place for fans while making it easier for others to block it out.

In my world, porn companies could keep their .com addresses for branding and trademark purposes. But the .com URL would redirect to the .xxx homepage. And that page would not have any pornographic content on it. Not even a pert bottom in lacy hot pants, even though you might come across such a picture in an ad in any mainstream fashion magazine.

This splash page is important in preventing accidental exposure to boobies. It would contain a standard text warning that you're about to enter a site containing erotic, indelicate or downright salacious content.

(Text, because you want browsers to be able to interpret the message for people with visual impairments. But you could also include an MP3 of a nice lady reading it aloud, using Very Simple Words and in multiple languages, to make sure users really understand what they're on the verge of getting into.)

Anyone who made a typo when entering a .com URL into the address bar, or who clicked a .xxx link by mistake, would immediately realize his or her error when faced with this ADULTS ONLY notice. And when you do click Enter, you can't blame anyone but yourself for your exposure to the full monty.

Naturally, all interior .xxx pages would redirect to the platonic homepage until you click Enter and accept the cookie. After that, it's smut galore.

Maybe someone would develop a special adult browser with porn-specific features: sexy skins, a media player that looks more like a peep show and less like Windows, embedded chat and webcam support, open-source teledildonics code, a boss button.

Perhaps the browser itself could act as a declaration that you're of age and willing to peruse the prurient -- the old "gold key" method -- and let you skip the warning pages.

But from a mainstream browser, you wouldn't get to porn unless you wanted to. You could set your browser and search-engine preferences to avoid .xxx domains, and the family computer's filters would block everything in the .xxx realm.

It wouldn't be a perfect system. And it would exist mainly to pacify anti-porn activist groups, even the ones who won't appreciate it because they're too busy trying to eradicate adult content in toto.

All we have to do to get from here to there is force an entire business sector -- an international one at that -- to emigrate from the generic commercial domain to the .xxx domain. Then we'd have to create a committee to determine whether certain websites -- those about figure drawing, for example, or online bookstores that publish user reviews of erotica books -- belong in .xxx.

Of course once all "adult" enterprises have paid $75 for each of their new .xxx domains (versus the $10 or so they pay for .com), we'd know exactly where to find them next time we decide to impose further regulations (or even taxes) on them.

From The Scotsman

Residents troubled by prostitution at Leith Links are set to visit red light zones elsewhere in the UK as they step up their campaign for an Edinburgh tolerance zone to be brought back.

Councillor Marjorie Thomas has proposed a visit to Aberdeen, which has an unofficial zone, and Liverpool, where a zone is set to be created.

Despite the figures by Scotpep showing a fall in the number of street prostitutes since a tolerance zone in the Capital was abolished in 2001, residents living in streets blighted by the illegal trade want a new one set up. When the Coburg Street tolerance zone was scrapped, streetworkers simply moved to Leith Links.

Local residents now complain of drunk women touting for business outside their homes, open discussions about drug dealings taking place on their streets, kerb crawling and having to pass pimps. They claim Leith Links has become a no-go area for women and girls as early as 7.30pm, because of fears of harassment from men. Residents claim the decrease in prostitutes has not been matched by a fall in clients, and kerb crawlers spend longer driving around the area looking for women.

They have invited Susan Deacon MSP and ward Councillor Thomas to come and see the problem at first hand. And Cllr Thomas is backing their calls for a tolerance zone in a non-residential area to be introduced sooner rather than later. She said: I'm in favour of a tolerance zone. The big question is where do we have it. But if the need for one is accepted by the Scottish Executive the onus will be on the council to find somewhere to put it. One thing I intend to suggest is that we go visit other areas such Aberdeen and Liverpool and learn from what's happening there.

Based on an article from the Burnley Today

Police are launching a campaign aimed at limiting prostitution in Burnley's Bank Hall area.

It follows complaints from nutters that increased and aggressive soliciting has been taking place in the area. The operation will focus on women who are approaching people in the street and touting for business, but will also concentrate on the kerb-crawling.

Sgt Martin Bishop, of Burnley police, said: We will be launching a two-pronged attack. We will be enforcing the law and arresting any offenders and we will also be asking local residents to take down the registration numbers of anybody who may be kerb-crawling and contact us.

Warning posters have been put up and there will be an increase in both uniformed and undercover police officers in the area.

PC Ryan Van Delft, the community beat manager for Bank Hall, said: Concerned residents brought the matter up at the Police and Communities Together (PACT) meetings. He added that the girls had been moved on from other areas following a crackdown on their activities and so it had ended up becoming more serious around Colne Road.

Based on an article from the Sutton Guardian

Sutton (south west London) could get the area's first-ever lap dancing club after a planning application was submitted to the council. Essex-based leisure company Horne & Hall Associates hopes to get the go-ahead for the new club, but opposition from nutter councillors has already turned the application into a issue.

The club, which would be located on the site of the old Iceland store in St Nicholas Road, would open six days a week and offer adult entertainment as well as food and drink from 5pm until 2am.

Conservative councillors believe there are already too many licensed premises in town and approving the strip club application would be detrimental to Sutton's image. A Conservative press statement read: The Conservatives call on (council) officers and the majority Lib Dem group to immediately oppose this application and make it clear no such sort of activity will be allowed in the borough. This is yet another blow to the image of Sutton and, if this were allowed, it would make Sutton High Street even less appealing than it is at the moment."

Horne & Hall company director Chris Hall said the club would cater for male and female clientele and would enhance both the local economy and Sutton's entertainment scene. We're not in your face, we would be very discreet in the location we're just offering another arm of entertainment to the local town centre and we could create a lot of employment.

Hall said adult venues had managed to shake off their seedy image and had become acceptable across the country He added: We thought Surrey could do with one. It's not sex, it's sexy.

Liberal Democrat councillor for Sutton Central Janet Lowne said it would be inappropriate to comment on the application in detail until a consultation had finished and planning officers had reached a decision. She did add, however, that she had concerns about the building's provision for disabled access.

The plans will be submitted to the council's development control committee for a final decision by councillors.

Based on an article from Ham & High

A Crouch End massage parlour has been given a clean bill of health after a campaign to close it down. Lanacombe on Crouch End Hill is to have its massage and special treatment licence renewed after police objections to the premises were withdrawn on Tuesday. Officers investigating the parlour after allegations of prostitution had no evidence to offer the council hearing.

The inquiry into the nightspot was triggered by nutters of the women's charity Eaves, based in Brixton. After visits and phone calls to dozens of massage parlours, Lanacombe featured on a list of suspicious sites and evidence was handed to police.

Eaves spokeswoman Victoria Samuel said: It was part of an investigation across London looking at sites which were believed to be selling sex. The study, called Sex In the City, is the first time the extent of problems was looked at. Our concerns generally are the selling of sex and treatment of women in London and we worked to provide information where we became concerned.

Lanacombe manager Laurence Steel told Broadway the end of council deliberations came as a relief - and effectively cleared the parlour's name. He said: There was a small misdemeanour and everything is fine. It was not a large issue. There were things that people said happened which were blown out of all proportion. Obviously some people have misconceptions about massage parlours but here there is aromatherapy and massage. It forms a big part of alternative therapy. He added that all six masseurs at the site had diplomas and were properly trained.

Lanacombe's licence has now been automatically renewed, but will come before council chiefs again in September.

Based on an article from The Cambridge Evening News

Forest Heath District Council's licensing committee have agreed to a variation in the Usher's Lakenheath Country Club public entertainment licence to allow total nudity.

Dancers will be allowed to perform wearing nothing but a garter to collect tips from customers. Council rules stipulate that the garters should be no higher than mid-thigh. The rules also state there must be no physical contact between customers and dancers who are not allowed to be closer than 80cm (31.5 inches) to members of the audience during a performance. Patrons must remain seated except when arriving, departing or going to the toilet. No person other than the dancer is allowed in the performance area “in a state of undress.”

There were no objections from the police or members of the public to the application by Pete Usher, who runs the club.

His lawyer Nageena Khalique told the committee that most of the customers would be American Air Force servicemen.

Coun Bill Bishop, chairman of the committee, said it had agreed to allow nude dancing because of the club's remote location.

Usher said: I'm pleased that I can now get on with it. He told the committee the strip sessions would be staged initially on Friday nights from 8pm until 2am from August

Capt. Jason McCree, a public affairs spokesman for the US air base, said: Base personnel are free to visit any establishment they wish unless otherwise off-limits.

Based on an article from From ic Liverpool

Plans to create the country's first managed zone for prostitutes in Liverpool are on hold until next year.

The city council wants to set up a special area where call girls can work safely and be advised how to kick their chronic drug habits. It made a formal request to the government to consider the controversial idea six months ago - but has still heard nothing.

The ECHO has now learned that ministers will not be making a decision on whether to allow Liverpool to create the zone until early next year. The government is currently carrying out a review of how authorities handle the problem of prostitution before working out the best way forward.

Cllr Flo Clucas, executive member for social care, said: We had hoped for a response this autumn. We can only hope they are taking what people around the country are saying very seriously. We wanted a response before now because if it is yes, we need to start working towards creating the zone, and if it is no, we have to look at the police taking a much higher profile."

Councillors voted in favour of applying for the country's first managed zone after months of research. Residents and businesses in areas frequented by prostitutes were asked for their views before the plan was put forward. Officials have already pledged to keep any zone well away from people's homes and businesses which open late at night.

In the meantime, the council has launched its own outreach scheme, offering advice to vice girls and their partners about drug treatment and how to exit prostitution.

Based on an article from The Rochdale Observer

Four victims have been caught kerb-crawling in what the police described as a "name and shame" operation. The men pleaded guilty at Rochdale Magistrates Court to soliciting a person for prostitution or to causing a nuisance and were fined.

Uniformed and undercover officers were used to trail suspects for a week in May in locations such as Richard Street.

The shameful Inspector Chris Hill, who led the clampdown dubbed Operation Senta, said: This campaign has sent out a strong message. [Presumably that the police want intimidate those forced onto the street by the state's repressive laws]. Kerb-crawling will not be tolerated and offenders will be brought to justice [What sort of justice is it that punished people for natural desires]

Seven other men are due to appear in court at a later date in connection with the operation.

Meanwhile, Inspector Hill is planning to deploy officers in Deeplish again this time without warning. I must stress this is not the end of the operation and we will continue to name and shame.

Based on an article from the Tottenham Journal

Dancers have been banned from performing at a Wood Green club following a campaign by nutters on the council and  from the church.

Pole dancing and lap dancing has been banned at Charlie Browns in Wood Green High Road after the owners went to court in a bid to keep the erotic dancers on show. Owner Hasan Burmali and Hasan Fikret went to Tottenham Magistrates' Court to contest a decision taken by councillors in February which banned the dancers.

But magistrates backed the decision by the council that the erotic club nights were offensive to users and visitors to St Michael's Church, the Civic Centre, a neighbouring sheltered housing complex and some locals.

Nutter Councillor Nilgun Canver, executive member for crime and community safety at Haringey Council, said: This is a good, common sense decision. Clearly the venue was unpopular with residents and the entertainment causes offence in this locality. Councillors were keen to end the pole dancing and the sexually explicit entertainment and their efforts have been rewarded. Well done to our enforcement team too, who provided all the legwork from which our residents will now benefit.

From the bgafd forum

From the recently updated terms and conditions from the NoChex internet payment service:

13.1 It is a mandatory condition of applying to use the NOCHEX service that you agree that you will not use the service for Gambling, Betting, the purchase sale or exchange of prepaid credit and debit cards, EGold or R18 videos or DVDs.

It seems that the recently added prohibition is specific to R18s and is not a general ban on adult entertainment. It seems to be in response to the recent High Court judgment confirming the ban on mail order R18s.

No justifications for the council's denial were included in the article but it sounds like something was trumped up about worries about alcohol use.

Based on an article from The North West Evening Mail

Nutters applauded as council officers rejected a bid to open a lap dancing club near their homes.

The controversial bid by Evolution Entertainments Ltd to open the raunchy club at the Bluebird Club on Holker Street, Barrow, was turned down for the second time despite the recommendation of chief environmental health officer Gary Ormondroyd that it should be approved.

The decision by Barrow Borough Council's licensing committee to turn down the provisional granting of a public entertainment licence was met with a round of applause by the 20 Hindpool residents who attended the meeting.

During the hour-long, often tense meeting, Hindpool Councillor Dave Pidduck and resident Bill Crawshaw mounted a passionate argument against the proposed venture. They also presented a petition signed by 140 residents in Hindpool.

Robin Francis Sharples, of Ribble Gardens, Walney, spoke on behalf of Evolution. He said residents feared public disorder, with late night drunks causing a nuisance, urinating in front yards and ringing on resident's doorbells asking them to call a cab, as had happened in the past.

Sharples told councillors the club would not advertise itself as a lap dance venue.

He said: It will not say lap dancing, or have silhouettes of naked women outside. In my club I'm not going to give anyone the opportunity to abuse alcohol

He confirmed Evolution would be appealing against the council's decision.

Based on an article from The Herald

Ministers are expected to announce plans for every local authority to have the power to set up managed tolerance zones for street prostitution. Causing alarm to a third party by kerb crawling or soliciting would also be made an offence under the proposals.

It is hoped that would dissuade involvement in prostitution and encourage women not to solicit in residential areas, where they are likely to attract attention. At the moment, it is an offence for women to solicit, but kerb crawling is not illegal in Scotland.

The proposals, which follow the recommendations of an expert working group on prostitution earlier this year, are expected to face widespread criticism. Discussions are continuing but it is understood that the main points of the group's report have been accepted despite criticism from a number of parties, among them Glasgow City Council and NHS Greater Glasgow. The report suggested that managed zones could be introduced as a useful local strategy for focusing service delivery and managing nuisance arising from street prostitution.

Edinburgh previously had a – technically illegal – informal tolerance zone. Its dispersal led to a rise in assaults on prostitutes. Liverpool is set to be the first city in the UK to establish a legal tolerance zone after its council approved the plan.

Several countries, including parts of Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Holland and Germany have decriminalised prostitution. At the same time, a raft of health and safety checks were introduced. However, police officers and health officials have warned that creating tolerance zones could increase levels of prostitution.

Around 5000 women work in the sex trade in Scotland, including 1400 street prostitutes. Most of them work in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.

The executive proposals mean authorities wishing to set up a managed zone in an area where it would not cause offence could do so. The changes to legislation may be included in the Police Bill, the consultation for which has just ended. It is expected to go through parliament shortly.

Margo MacDonald, the independent MSP who was a member of the expert group, said she would be surprised if ministers did not agree with its main recommendations.The group concluded that the existing legislation on street prostitution was unsatisfactory, discriminates against women and fails to dissuade them from becoming prostitutes. Many people think a change in the law which puts equal responsibility on to buyer and seller is long overdue.

A spokesman for the executive said: We are not announcing our response to the expert group this week. We will be making an announcement after recess.

It sounds like some Barrow councillors have been plucking reasons out of thin air to support their personal decisions.

Based on an article from The North West Evening Mail

The latest bid to open Barrow's first ever lap-dancing club is set to be approved. A new application has been submitted to town hall chiefs for the Bluebird Club in Barrow. A similar plan for the same Holker Street spot was rejected in February, and an appeal was turned down. But councillors are now being told they cannot block the plan any longer.

Members of Barrow Borough Council's licensing committee turned down Raina Dougliss's proposal for a lap-dancing venue for fear it would cause public nuisance, disorder and harm to children. A subsequent appeal failed to have the decision overturned.

But the latest application, from Robin Francis Sharples, of Ribble Gardens, Barrow, on behalf of Evolution Entertainments, looks set to be granted. Council chief environmental health officer Gary Ormondroyd has recommended the licensing committee approves the proposal. He told the committee the council could not object to the application on the grounds of the potential for public nuisance or disorder arising from the entertainment. He said they could also not refuse the application for the potential for fear of harm to children

The application is set to be discussed by the licensing committee at Barrow Town Hall on July 7.

Based on an article from The Cambridge Evening News

Pole dancing club nights in the lap of Lakenheath air base are a step closer to reality.

Plans to run an "adult cabaret" night at Lakenheath Country Club, situated close to the main entrance of the biggest US Air Force base in Britain, have been submitted to Forest Heath District Council for approval. Pete Usher, club owner, wants to open every Thursday.

The club, formerly known as the Rod and Gun Club, is almost opposite the entrance to the Lakenheath base, and already holds a public entertainment licence. It currently stages country and western music nights on Fridays and Saturdays. Usher, who did not want to comment on his application, has made it clear in the past that he is not setting up a lap dancing club and that the girls would not be dancing fully nude.

Speaking to the News when plans were announced for the night Usher said: The dancers could be in various outfits, something like a stars-and-stripes bikini. He said he had received about 15 applications from girls interested in performing at the club.

The application will now be discussed by the district council's licensing committee on Monday, July 4 - American Independence Day.

Councillor Bill Bishop, licensing committee chairman, said: It is an isolated spot so there shouldn't be too many people wandering in off the street and it is a recognised club so there should be no problems