UK Sex Sells News

Off with their bollocks!... Any man found enjoying a sex life will be liable to the 'appropriate' summary penalty

Lap dancing clubs may be closed if they are located too near supposedly inappropriate sites such as schools, under transitional powers contained in the policing and crime bill published yesterday.

On lap dancing, the introduction of transitional powers to threaten existing lap dancing clubs goes further than originally billed. The man hating home secretary, Jacqui Smith, has already indicated that she expects the legislation to curb the growth in the number of lap dancing clubs, which has doubled to 300 over the last four years.

But Coaker indicated that the transitional powers contained in the bill would give local authorities the power to refuse to renew the licences of existing clubs if there are local objections that they are sited inappropriately.

Despite the recent protests of the lap dancing industry that what goes on in their clubs is not sexually stimulating, the legislation proposes to categorise lap dancing clubs as sex encounter establishments and remove them from the existing 2003 entertainment licensing regime, which classed them along with bars and pubs. A sex encounter venue is defined as one in which relevant entertainment is provided before a live audience for the financial gain of the organiser. An audience can consist of only one person.

The effect will be to allow local authorities to take far more account of the views of nutters in granting new licences and to ban the opening of further clubs by declaring that a particular town or city centre has reached saturation point.

Rules that allow jobcentres to advertise sex related opportunities are being reviewed by the Government, Commons Leader Harriet Hatemen said today.

Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell is looking into guidelines that allowed more than 350 sex industry jobs to be advertised in Jobcentre Plus offices across the country last year.

Shadow Commons leader Theresa May said jobs included topless semi-nude bar staff and nude cleaners.

During exchanges on future Commons business, May told MPs of Harman's quest to stop local newspapers advertising the sex trade.

She told Harman: Pity you can't persuade the Work and Pensions Secretary to join your campaign. A new report shows that Jobcentre Plus advertised 351 vacancies in the adult entertainment industry last year, including adverts for topless semi-nude bar staff and nude cleaners.

Two jobseekers complained - they were asked to perform sexual services after contacting an employer about a vacancy advertised at Jobcentre Plus.

May demanded an end to this hypocrisy within Government.

Harman, who is also Women's Minister, said: I absolutely agree with you that there is no way that job centres should be used as a place for advertising jobs for sexual services, for lap dancing, for sex encounter establishments. I raised this with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions - he is reviewing the situation. We don't want any of those sorts of jobs in our jobcentres.

Banks join benefit cheats, lap-dancing clubs and drinkers at the top of a list of targets for legislative action to be unveiled today.

Gordon Brown has made unfairness to men the theme of the second Queen's Speech of his premiership.

Companies will be free to discriminate in favour of women and black job candidates under a proposed Inequality Bill. The move allows employers to give preferential treatment as long as applicants are equally qualified. It is designed to boost the proportion of female and ethnic staff, as well as thrusting more of them into senior posts.

Measures to toughen laws against benefit fraud, ban alcohol promotions and reclassify lap-dancing clubs as sex encounter establishments were trailed yesterday.

Plans by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, for a new Bill of Rights have been shelved.

The Prime Minister said in a document previewing the Queen's Speech yesterday. So as Government takes action, we expect people to play their part in return, with clear consequences for those who do not.

The speech will also announce a Crime Bill changing prostitution and drink laws. There will be proposals to criminalise men who pay for sex with trafficked women. The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, has made clear the bill would include a strict liability offence of paying for sex with a trafficked or pimped woman which means that ignorance will be no defence for those accused. The Conservatives have already indicated they are likely to oppose this, making tackling prostitution one of the more unlikely flashpoints in politics over the coming months. [Saying that I didn't notice the Paying for sex provision in any of the Home Office press releases accompanying the Queen's Speech.]

Pbr on the Melon Farmer's forum notes the absence of a Bill to prohibit non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse... perhaps the first bit of good news in government policy for quite a while now.

Performers

• Lifetime Achievement Award - marino
• Best Female Actress – Keisha Kane
• Best Male Actor – Jason Romer
• Daily Sport Actress of the Year – Rennee Richards
• Best Supporting Actress – Isabelle Ice
• Best Female Newcomer  MICHELLE MOIST
• Best Male Newcomer – John Janes
• Female Performer of the year ( BGAFD Award )- Cate Harrington
• Best Female Performer in an Amateur Film – Geogina Baille
• Most Outrageous Female Performance – Daisy rock
• Best Solo scene by a female performer – Leigh Logan
• Transexual performer of the Year – Joanna Jet
• Butter would melt award – Katie Price (Jordan)

Productions

• Best Film- Satanic Slut 2 – Salvation Films
• Best Director – Anna Span – do the business
• Best Softcore Production -Petra Joy – sensual seduction
• Best Lighting – Petra Joy – Sensual seduction
• Best Editing – Pumpkin Films -get your rocks off
• Best DVD Authoring – Harmony - ladies of pleasure
• Best Packaging – pumpkin films -busty brits abroad
• Best Original Soundtrack – spanking tomato - road trip 18 esher
• Best script -wicked films – st teeny cums

TV + Internet

• Pay per view channel of the year – Television X
• Free to view channel of the year – Bang Babes
• Best TV presenter of the year – Nikki Lee
• Best Online Scene – Terry stevens for real couples
• Best online FILM – Strap on sex tape – strictly broadband
• Best OnLine Female actress – Cathy Barry
• Best OnLine Male Actor – Pascel white
• Best OnLine Production Company – killagram ...nicklass were a close second
• Best Online Paysite - strictly broadband.

Plans to open a strip club in Sutton Coldfield have been turned down because of the perception it would increase crime and seedy activity.

The bid by Flints wine bar in Belwell Lane, Mere Green, to re-brand itself as the Pussycats Gentlemen's Club was thrown out by the city council after more than 100 nutters sent letters objecting to increases in late night noise, crime and nuisance as well as the moral decline of the area.

Licensing committee chairman David Osborne said: The application is refused. We are particularly concerned at the increase in noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour.

In an attempt to appease protesters the licensee Deirdre O'Rourke, who has 35 years experience running pubs, offered to cut back closing times from the initial suggested 3.30am to 1am weekdays and 2am at weekends, in line with other Mere Green nightspots.

But it was a late change of heart by local police, who at first had no formal objections, which swung the three-strong licensing committee against the introduction of nude dancing in Mere Green.

Sutton Coldfield police inspector Tom Hadley told the committee that whether or not crime would in reality increase was not the issue. He argued there was a widely held perception among locals that seedy activities such as prostitution, drug dealing and alcohol-fuelled disorder would soar. We not only measure reported crime, but also how safe people feel, and community harmony. It's about reassurance, trust and confidence I believe that as a direct result of this application people in the area are more fearful of crime and more fearful of going out after dark.

He recognised that there were initially no objections from his licensing officers, who had worked with Mrs O'Rourke to ensure it would be a well-run and discreet club. But added that the public reaction in recent weeks had persuaded him it would be a bad idea.

But retired police officer Sid Wood, speaking on behalf of Mrs O'Rourke, had argued that the club would cause less nuisance than the existing Flints wine bar. He said: At the moment people drink outside, there is music playing all even-ing. Under the new licence this would stop at 8pm. The only activity outside would be the occasional smoker.

Following the committee's decision he said that it was ‘likely' they would appeal against the decision. An appeal would be heard by magistrates.

It is timely to recall senior police evidence presented at a Commons culture committee investigation into lap dancing:

Chief Inspector Adrian Studd, of the Metropolitan Police, said local residents often wanted officers to take action on moral grounds. He told the Commons culture committee such clubs were usually well-run and had a high staff ratio to customers. Often people look for a moral decision, which is sometimes very difficult for police and local authorities to make.

It is true to say there is no evidence they cause any crime and disorder, or very rarely, because they tend to be fairly well-run, they tend to have a fairly high staff ratio to customers, the people who tend to go there tend to be a bit older, so they don't tend to drink so excessively and cause... problems outside.

Lap dancing is not sexually stimulating, the chairman of the Lap Dancing Association told a parliamentary committee.

Simon Warr made the claim, which was greeted with justifiable scepticism by MPs, while he was giving evidence to the Commons culture committee as part of an inquiry into the operation of the Licensing Act.

The government is under pressure to change the act so that lap dancing clubs have to be licensed as sex encounter establishments.

At the moment, they are licensed in the same way as pubs and clubs, which has led to complaints from councils who believe that they do not have the power to stop clubs being opened in their areas.

In their evidence to committee, Warr and colleagues from the Lap Dancing Association claimed that their clubs should not be classified as sex encounter establishments because they were providing hospitality, not sexual services. But Warr astonished the committed when he argued that sexual stimulation was not part of the clubs' attraction.

One of the biggest problems we face is that not enough people understand the business blueprint of our clubs, he said: Actually, our premises are not sexually stimulating. It would be contrary to our business plan if they were.

At this point, Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley who was questioning Warr, said he found that hard to believe.

Warr replied: Then you need to go to a club, because the purpose of a club is to provide entertainment. It's to provide alcohol, it's a place of leisure. All right, the entertainment may be in the form of nude or semi-nude performers, but it's not sexually stimulating.

Peter Stringfellow, the strip club owner, who was giving evidence alongside Warr and his colleagues, intervened to try to explain what he thought Warr had meant by his comments.

Of course it's sexually stimulating. So is a disco. So is a little girl flashing away with her knickers showing. Of course it's sexually stimulating. So is David Beckham laid out in his Calvin Klein [underwear]. So are the Chippendales. Of course it does have some form of sex.

But what my colleague was trying to explain was that it's not sex, 100%. It's not 'I'm going to go and get divorced.' It does not go on like that. Our environment lasts three minutes. Their clothes are on and off before you can blink. It's a lot more to do with personality. It's a lot more to do with the ambience of the club.

Earlier in the session, Davies asked the Lap Dancing Association to respond to allegations that at some clubs dancers do offer sexual services, contrary to the rules. Chris Knight, the vice chairman of the association, replied: We are not saying there are not bad clubs. There are bad drivers. But you do not change the way that you licence drivers.

Kate Nicholls, the secretary of the Lap Dancing Association, said that councils already had enough power to stop clubs opening under the existing legislation, which allows them to consider issues such as public safety, public order, public nuisance and the protection of children: If you cannot form an objection to an outlet [under one of these criteria], then you are just accepting that you have got a fundamental objection to the premises.

But the committee also heard from two representatives of Object, a human rights organisation campaigning against the sex object culture. Object wants lap dancing clubs to be classified as sex encounter establishments.

Sandrine Leveque, Object's advocacy officer, said: Lap dancing clubs promote gender stereotypes and their expansion is therefore of concern to women's organisations up and down the country.

Paying for sex is to become a criminal offence in the UK and lapdancing clubs will face a stringent licensing regime

The Home Secretary has attacked the 'bizarre' practice of City firms entertaining clients in lapdancing clubs, on the eve of a government crackdown on the sex trade which is expected to criminalise most men who use prostitutes.

Jacqui Smith said she expected to see some lapdancing clubs, which have mushroomed in recent years, close and fewer new ones opened under reforms. She will outline plans this week to criminalise paying for sex with a woman controlled for another person's gain. The new offence will carry a hefty fine and criminal record, which could prevent those caught from getting jobs in sensitive occupations.

The legislation will cover women who have pimps or drug addicts who work to pay off their dealers as well as the rarer cases of trafficked women. This is expected to include the majority of Britain's 80,000 sex workers. Ignorance of a woman's circumstances will not be a defence. Kerb crawlers will be named and shamed, while those who pay a prostitute knowing she has been forcibly trafficked could face rape charges.

The measures are highly controversial, with critics arguing that men will seek other outlets if prostitution is driven off the streets. Smith said it was not mine or the government's responsibility to ensure that the demand is satisfied. Is this something about which people have a choice with respect to their demands? Yes, they do. Basically, if it means fewer people are able to go out and pay for sex I think that would be a good thing.

The prostitution review will be published this week, followed later this month by new licensing arrangements that are expected to see lapdancing clubs, currently licensed in the same way as pubs, subjected to the same stringent regime as sex shops, allowing local residents more opportunities to object.

he English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), which has vigorously opposed the clampdown, says outlawing paid-for sex between consenting adults will punish women who find this more lucrative than menial jobs. Forcing the trade underground would mean that the risks they are forced to take will be greater, said a spokeswoman.

Under the new offence, men would not be able to claim in court that they had not known the prostitute had a pimp or a drug habit. It won't be enough to say, "I didn't know", she said. What I hope people will say is, "I am not actually going to take the risk if there is any concern that this woman hasn't made a free choice." It would be quite difficult for a man paying for sex in the majority of cases not to fall under this particular offence.

What the new powers would provide:

• A new criminal offence of paying for sex with a prostitute 'controlled for another person's gain'.
• Kerb crawlers to be liable for prosecution after their first offence.
• The possible expansion of a scheme in Lambeth, south London, which has impressed ministers, in which offenders are routinely named in local press.
• A stricter licensing regime to make it harder for lap-dancing clubs to open in residential areas.

Burlesque shows and theatre performances involving nudity could become the victims of proposed legislation intended to relicense lap dancing clubs, say opponents.

Trade body the Lap Dancing Association says the new licence needs a stricter legal definition of which forms of nude entertainment it would apply to: If not, the licence could inadvertently capture everything from traditional burlesque - made popular by performers such as Dita Von Teese - to naked actors on stage in the theatre, like Daniel Radcliffe in Equus.

LDA secretary Kate Nicholls told The Stage that representatives are due to meet with Home Office officials to discuss alternative proposals and will also present evidence to the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport this month.

The reforms suggested by MP Blackman-Woods have won strong support from feminist groups and also the powerful Local Government Association, which represents a total of 446 councils in England and Wales.

But Equity is supporting lap dancers in their concern to ensure that the new licence continues to recognise them as performers.

Union spokesman Martin Brown said: If [relicensing] establishments would reclassify the people who work in them, then we are opposed. We are opposed to exotic dancers being classified as sex workers. Our members have made it very clear to us that they are, first and foremost, dancers and they absolutely object to attempts to classify them as sex workers.

Erotica 08
21-23 November 2008
Olympia
London

Decadent, daring and fun! That's Erotica. Forget doom and gloom and credit crunch – immerse yourself in one full day and night of fabulous naughtiness.

Members of the Lap Dancing Association are to visit the Palace of Westminster later this month as part of their campaign against proposals to classify them as sex workers.

I don't suppose many select committees discuss lap dancing, not as part of official business anyway, says Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley: I have no idea whether there will be an official visit to one of these clubs, but it is always a good idea to see these things first-hand. John Whittingdale, who chairs the committee, can't believe what has landed in his lap: I have the best job in parliament,

The association has already submitted a report, which defends women's right to perform striptease.

It ends with the cheeky postscript: Our criticisers have obviously never visited a lap dancing club. The reality is that, if they had, they would realise that although the girls take their tops off, it is definitely they who wear the trousers.

Today, according to the Government's own Mori poll, 59% of people agree that prostitution is a perfectly reasonable choice of work; and 37% would not be ashamed if a family member worked as a prostitute. It is surely time to decriminalise it. Yet Jacqui Smith wants to criminalise kerb crawlers ever more severely and to give police and councils the power to close brothels, throwing women on the streets. There is rightly proper concern about the trafficking of young girls, and their exploitation and violent abuse by pimps and drug dealers. The spiral of such depravity is a scar on our cities. But pitching such interests in a war with the police can only aggravate matters.

There is, whether we like it or not, a compelling need for many men to have sex without strings, sex with a stranger that is over and done with once the cash has changed hands. Throughout history they have found ways of doing so, whether with sacred temple maidens or in the garrison brothels set up to serve fighting armies. We can chase it up and down the legal ladders, hound it down dark alleys and squalid bedsits, but its persistence tells us that we won't eradicate it. So let's face up to the fact and make paying for sex legal. That way we can site and inspect brothels where it suits the community, women can have their health and welfare monitored and their drug problems treated.

...Read full article

Gordon Brown's ministerial team. Left to right: Women's Issues, Patriotism & Jingoism, Religious Observance, Fun & Recreation, Men's Issues

Harriet Harman says firms should not take staff to lap dancing clubs

She urged firms to sign up to a new morality charter that would prevent employees paying for trips to see strippers on expenses.

Harman, a no-sex object and minister for women, was speaking as the Fawcett Society launched a campaign to urge firms to challenge sex-object culture at work.

It includes banning the use of use of lap dancing clubs in corporate entertaining and stopping staff from accessing pornography in the office.

The charter is backed by the likes of BT, Barclays Wealth and Matrix Chambers.

However the suggestions were criticised by the Lap Dancing Association.

Kate Nicholls, the association's secretary, said: This campaign is another aggressive attempt to see our clubs shut down and tens of thousands of professional dancers put out of work.

The Fawcett Charter is another attempt to stigmatise a legitimate industry, constructed by people who oppose it on moral grounds.

Lap dancers have taken part in a protest against government plans to reclassify them as sex workers.

Nutter campaigners against the clubs want them to be relabelled as sex encounter establishments and say councils should be given more control to ban them and to charge higher licence fees.

But the Lap Dancing Association, which represents a third of the industry's clubs, claims this would stigmatise performers. Its members say sexual activity does not take place in regulated clubs and their businesses were already controlled under the Licensing Act 2003.

They said they are subject to numerous policies which regulated their activity and the reclassification was unnecessary.

On Tuesday, Lap dancers Lynsey Catt, Sian Wilshaw, Katherine Martinez, and Sharon Warneford presented a petition with nearly 3,000 signatures to Number 10 Downing Street, on behalf of the association.

Elaine Reed, a spokeswoman for the Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen's Clubs chain, said: The workers within our industry are absolutely horrified that the Government are trying to rebrand us as part of the sex industry. The feeling is that if these changes are made the whole face of the industry will change, and not for the better

A Home Office spokesman said it was looking into the matter and intended to introduce changes to the the law at some point in the future.

Owners of lap dancing clubs across Britain have joined forces to oppose attempts to make it more difficult for them to obtain licences.

Next week lap dancers are to hand in a petition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown urging him not to reclassify them as sex establishments.

They stress that while lap dancing is a sexy industry, sex is not for sale.

The Government look set to change the law to make it easier for local councils to refuse licences for clubs where customers pay to watch semi-naked women dancing.

But Kate Nicholls, secretary of the Lap Dancing Association (LDA) yesterday said: Britain's lap dancing clubs have been the subject of political and media debate in recent months.

The LDA shares concerns about unregulated or inadequately controlled establishments offering lap dancing. The LDA proposes a mandatory code of operating standards for the industry.

The LDA offers its own code of practice as a blueprint for this. A code of practice which would ensure any licensed premises offering adult entertainment must adhere to principles of professionalism, safety and transparency, would go some lengths to addressing residual issues within the industry.

The LDA insist that local authorities do have the power to reject a licensing application for a lap-dancing club, and quote an example in her own Durham constituency: By way of example, in a recent case in Durham, a council ignored objections from local residents and the Magistrates Court reversed their decision, showing how effective and influential local complaints can be. The reality is that planning and licensing restrictions give local authorities and local communities full powers of consultation, complaint and control.

The first Lap Dancing Association awards night were held at For Your Eyes Only on the 15th of October.

The performer of the year  was won by Faye representing the new Kensington club, Kensington Suite.

The LDA small club of the year was Blue Velvet from Newcastle, medium sized was Bandit Queen of Dudley, and large club was Spearmint at Tottenham Court Rd.

Flints is a large wine bar in Sutton Coldfield.

The owner, Deidre O'Rourke, wants to turn the pub in to a members only adult club called Pussy Cats and serve drinks until 3am in suburban Mere Green.

The landlady claims upmarket dancing girls would attract wealthy footballers and businessmen and has rubbished claims that the club will be a brothel in disguise.

But nutters have predictably branded the plans seedy. Claire Hope said: It's completely wrong for a suburban street like Belwell Lane and completely wrong for Sutton. There is no shortage of lapdancing clubs in Birmingham. Regardless of how well it is run, people will feel threatened by groups of men going there late at night. The bar is on the school run.”

A few sgnatures have been collected on a 137 name petition.

Sutton Coldfield's nutter MP Andrew Mitchell has stated in a letter to residents: I am quite clear that Mere Green and Sutton Coldfield are not appropriate locations for this sort of activity.

Update: Protest

6th November 2008. Based on article from birminghammail.net

Around 50 campaigners gathered outside Flints in Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, to raise awareness of the proposals.

Slogans on some of the placards being waved on Saturday included Sex in the city, not in the suburbs, Brothel in disguise and No to sleepless nights.

Birmingham City Council will decide on the application on November 26.

Update: Petition

25th November 2008. See article from thisissuttoncoldfield.co.uk

The case against turning Flints into an adult entertainment venue now includes:

• 120+ letters of objection.
• A 14 page petition.
• Strong opposition from Waitrose, Lloyds British and other local businesses.
• A blunder has resulted in official agenda papers stating West Midlands Police has 'no objections to the application'. However chief superintendent Russell Smith gave his reassurance the licensing committee would be left in no doubt of the police's strong objections.

The credit crunch is already starting to bite at the industry, early in October the Wildcats group which had 8 clubs mainly in the north of England went into administration.

It's understood that former MD Matt Haycox has bought the Leeds and Harrogate clubs off the receivers and that most of the others are now shut and on the market.

I understand also that as well as Wildcats Aphrodite's in Blackpool has also closed and that several other clubs in that run down resort are closed or close to closing.

Also closed are Walsall's “Cobra Lounge” club which is being converted back into a traditional pub and the UK's first club “Route 66” in Park Royal.

An attempt to open a club in Tunbridge Wells has also been abandoned for the moment.

18% of all British men have visited prostitutes. This represents a 3% increase in the number of men who have visited a prostitute since 2002. Usage of prostitutes is highest among men aged 35-54 (26%), and 14% of married men have also visited a prostitute.

In addition to the 9% who have previously used prostitutes, 6% of those who have not done so would consider paying for sex in the future.

In total, 27% of British men have either visited a prostitute or would consider doing so in the future.

A majority believe that prostitution should be legalised. However, the proportion of Britons who believe that prostitution should be legalised is falling. In 2002, 61% said that prostitution should be legalised compared with 51% in the latest survey. Men are significantly more likely to favour legalisation, while a majority (57%) of women would oppose it.

The 16-24 age group are, by a considerable distance, the most likely to oppose legalisation (69%).

A sample of 1,044 UK adults aged 16+ were interviewed by ICM Research in September 2008.

A plan to open a lap dancing club in a supposedly residential area of west London has sparked the inevitable nutter protests.

So far 2,000 people have signed a petition against proposals for a bar and club with 50 booths and lapdancing in West Kensington.

The venue, expected to be called the Kensington Suite, would be in the former Fox Tavern in North End Road.

The owner of the West Kensington property, Passion Nights Ltd, has hired former Stringfellows stripper Ellouise Moore as the dancers' manager. Moore expects the club to attract footballers, brokers and bankers.

The venue will offer valet parking and in an advert for dancers it is described as an elegant and upmarket club.

Local nutter Rachel Marlowe leading the protests, said: It is a completely unsuitable area to have a lapdancing club. There are two primary schools, three nurseries and an all-girls senior school within 200 metres. The bus stop is right outside and women do not want to be propositioned by drunk customers having a cigarette. We are worried about prostitution, drug-dealing and late-night noise.

Update: Nutter MPs

31st October 2008

There was a demonstration outside of the Fox on Friday last week when objectors were joined by nutter MPs Greg Hands (Hammersmith and Fulham ) and Andrew Slaughter (Acton, Ealing and Shepherd's Bush).

A Hammersmith and Fulham licensing committee hearing will be held on Thursday, November 6, at 6.30pm in the Town Hall in King Street, Hammersmith.

Update: Nutters Win

20th November. See article from londoninformer.co.uk

Objections to the application received by Hammersmith and Fulham Council totalled 1,041, as well as a petition signed by 250 residents.

The application was rejected because it did not meet four licencing requirements: Prevention of crime and disorder in the area, protection of children from harm, public safety and the prevention of public nuisance.

The owners can appeal to magistrates against the decision, but he must do so within 21 days of being given the panel's decision in writing.

Update: Legal Battle

22nd February 2009. See article from londoninformer.co.uk

Last week, the owners of the former Fox Tavern applied to do battle in court with Hammersmith and Fulham Council over a ruling made in November, which stopped an erotic dance bar in North End Crescent from gaining a licence.

The move has prompted a predictable outcry from protesters.

Campaign group Stop the Fox, which has more than 500 members, has vowed to reignite its fight against the lap-dancing venue.

The challenge will be heard between April 27 and May 1, at West London Magistrates' Court in Hammersmith.

Physical contact between lap dancers and customers is to be banned at a Cornish night club.

The rule means dancers at the Red Square (Divas) club in Newquay must stay 3ft (0.91m) away from customers.

It brings the club in line with four other lap-dancing establishments in the resort.

Red Square said it would appeal against the ban which Restormel Borough councillors voted in favour of at a meeting on Monday. The ban will not come in to force until the appeal has been heard.

Andrew Waters, the chair of Restormel's licensing committee, said it was important to bring Red Square in line with Newquay's other lap dancing clubs.

But Nicholas Hall, the solicitor representing Red Square, said: No alcohol is served within the dancing area. Every seat can be seen by a full-time security presence and activities are monitored by CCTV cameras. The management engage their dancers in a formal contract which includes a 'code of contact' which each dancer is invited to execute as part of her employment.

Directed by Gareth Maxwell Roberts. Winner of the 2008 London Independent Film Festival Award For Best International Feature Film. Dramatic, intelligent and very hot sex action, hugely ambitious for an independent film, Killl Kill Faster Faster is a dark, erotic love story, a contemporary film noir. Sex is the hinge, the highlight, the horror and the horrendous conflict of the story and it is acted out with jaw-dropping tension and compulsion.

Director Gareth Maxwell Roberts explains:

Sexuality and sensuality have always been at the core of the story. The protagonist, Joe One-Way is an outsider, a loner, a man on the margins. A violent man who is web of insecurity and vulnerabilty. A man burdened by guilt and remorse, seeking redemption and salvation. The language of sex is how he communicates with the three loves of his life, Clinique, Kimba and Fleur. Through the exploration of his sexuality Joe finds fleeting moments of peace and reconciliation and is able to forge a level of understanding and intimacy he is unable to find elsewhere. Joe is above all a lover, a man who's life has been defined, and ultimately wrecked by love.

A former lap dancing club in Walsall will be turned back into a traditional boozer. The historic Green Dragon pub in High Street was transformed into a lap dancing club in 2006.

The venue, which was called the Cobralounge, flopped and now its new owners have bought it. They were today given the go-ahead to re-open it as a traditional watering hole by the licensing sub-comittee at Walsall Council.

There was the predictable nutter 'fury' when its owners Midland UK Leisure reopened it as a strip joint. The move angered religious nutters, who pointed out that the venue was once used as a place of worship in the early 1800s.

Lap dancing is booming even as Britain struggles not to go bust.

Hard-up Brits are buying food from cut-price supermarkets and staying in thanks to the credit crunch. But, despite the financial doom and gloom, dance clubs are flourishing.

And many canny Brit babes are quitting jobs such as nursing, teaching and even law work to become lap dancers, where the average wage is £50,000.

There are currently 150 official lap dancing clubs and 300 places which put on some form of sexy entertainment.

About 70 or 80 girls will work in one club, with all on duty at peak times. Added to the number of strippers working in British pubs, it means up to 25,000 women are working as lap dancers.

Birmingham is the country's lap dancing capital with about 12 clubs while London is second with 10.

A spokesman for the adult entertainment branch of the GMB union reckons more women are working as lap dancers than ever before thanks to the wages. She says: Men still want to treat themselves. It's the same phenomenon as women who buy a Chanel lipstick because they can't afford the handbag. They want a taste of the high life. It's the same with men – they might be struggling but need something to cheer themselves up.

Kate Nicholls, secretary of the Lap Dancing Association, says: Across the whole of the hospitality industry business is down but lap dancing clubs are bucking the trend. We're not suffering as much as some. Some nightclubs are resorting to desperate tactics such as 80p shots to get people in. But in our clubs spending is holding up.

...BUT

Based on article from sundaymercury.net

A Birmingham lap dance company has gone BUST – the latest victim of the worldwide cash crisis. Plans to open a three-storey stripping superclub in the city have been abandoned after The Provocative Group (Birmingham) Limited went into administration.

The company had intended to expand its string of Wildcats venues by opening up in a building previously used by Spearmint Rhino on John Bright Street.

Just two months ago, it was offering free VIP tickets to see top glamour model Lucy Pinder on the opening night of the new club. The invitation read: We have just launched our lapdancing superclub Wildcats in Birmingham. For all you Lucy Pinder fans out there, you're in luck as she's going to be spending the evening with us.

Wildcats, which had venues across the country was said to be Britain's biggest lapdancing club chain. It is not yet clear exactly why the club's finances have collapsed.

A spokesman for Begbies Traynor, the adminstrators for the Provocative Group, said: There are no job losses in Birmingham because the club never actually opened. The building has been repossessed by the landlord.

Heaven gentlemen's club in Stourbridge was the subject of Channel 4's Dispatches programme - which saw an undercover journalist secretly filming inside the venue.

And following theprogramme on (October 6) which showed a dancer getting up close and personal with the secret reporter, Dudley Council says it now plans to investigate allegations it breached its licensing conditions.

Club owner Alastair Rose admitted the girl in question had breached the code of conduct agreed between Dudley Council and the club - and said she had been sacked some time ago. He said: I take this very seriously - it was a one off, that's not the normal behaviour of a dancer. It's been dealt with and I'm working closely with the licensing officer to make sure ladies stick to the code of conduct and hopefully this won't happen again.

A spokesman for Dudley Council confirmed the nightspot, which opens Wednesday to Saturday, was being investigated following the programme and added: If there is a breach, the licensing committee has a number of powers, including revocation of licence.

We want quality in everything we do... fish & chips

The credit crunch is squeezing Blackpool's lap-dancing clubs out of business. A meeting of the council's licensing committee was told that out of up to 12 premises licensed for such entertainment, only four or five were now operating.

Licensing enforcement officer Mark Marshall said a number of clubs had closed including Aphrodites on Topping Street and Wildcats on Clifton Street. Others had also indicated that they are on the brink of closing.

Nutter council leader Peter Callow claimed the reduction as a victory for the town's clean-up campaign aimed at making Blackpool a more family friendly resort: If we are being successful in halting the spread of lap dancing clubs then I am delighted. These are seedy establishments and we don't want them in Blackpool.

We want quality in everything we do. If some of these seedy establishments go, then so much the better for visitors and the residents.

TV Review: Dispatches: The Hidden World Of Lap Dancing, Channel 4, Monday 6 October, 9pm

As you would expect in a documentary like this, there was a fair amount of flesh on show. All secretly filmed flesh, but flesh nonetheless. The show used a couple of undercover reporters - a guy called Peter and a wannabe lady dancer - to show just what happens when someone goes into a lap dancing club. Guess what? What happens when you go into a lap dancing club is people try and get you to spend money and then take their clothes off if you pay them.

The questions that this episode of Dispatches was keen to answer were: Are the rules that govern these clubs being flouted? Does any transgression of these rules constitute a sexual service? And why does lap dancing get the same licensing status as a café or a karaoke bar?

Any sane people knows the answers.

Undercover footage revealed that the all-important three-feet rule was constantly being flouted, and lady-parts were shoved relentlessly into our brave undercover reporter's poor naive face.

You walk into a club, and five minutes later two girls who you hardly know are completely naked in front of you. It's quite shocking.

Is it Peter? Is it REALLY shocking? No offence, but what were you expecting when you went into a place like this? A cup of tea and a Digestive? Get real son. This type of journalism is so lazy and makes me angry. The whole programme was just a shock tactic to try and rile Middle England into shrieking at their television sets.

There was also a laughable bit when Peter was chatting to two dancers in a Blackpool club. They had offered him sex for £300. That's obviously prostitution and against the laws.

Jeez. It was like watching the televisual of equivalent of the Daily Mail.

...Read full review

Top academics involved in sex research have launched an attack on "seriously flawed" government-funded research into British brothels.

The academics claim that research into prostitution in the UK published last month by the Poppy Project, which is partly funded by the Ministry of Justice, is inaccurate and unethical.

The research in the Big Brothel report exhibits serious flaws in its mode of data collection and analysis, they warn.

The group of 27 key figures in sex work research from prestigious universities across the UK and overseas claim the report was conducted with neither ethical approval nor acknowledgement of evidence and co-authored by a journalist known for producing anti-prostitution findings.

The Poppy Project has received £5.8m in government funding and the women and equality minister, Harriet Harman, has publicly endorsed the organisation. The report's findings lend weight to Home Office moves to make it against the law to pay for sex.

The row comes just days before the October 8 deadline of a Home Office consultation into proposals to amend existing legislation on prostitution and brothels. The proposals, which will go before parliament in December, would create a new criminal offence of paying for sex with a person controlled for gain, enable police to close brothels and change the definition of kerb-crawling.

The academics, led by Dr Teela Sanders at Leeds University and Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon at Birkbeck, University of London, have condemned the research.

Their response, sent to the Poppy Project and Harman, states: The report builds a damning picture of indoor sex work on the basis of data whose reliability and representativeness is extremely doubtful and a methodological approach that would be considered unethical by most professional social researchers. It makes claims about trafficking, exploitation and the current working conditions of women and men employed in the indoor sex industry on the basis of that data.

These claims cannot be substantiated in terms of the methodology, the data presented or in terms of wider, ethically approved, peer reviewed academic evidence. In short, the report does not provide any evidence concerning the current working conditions of women and men employed in indoor sex work venues in the UK.

The Big Brothel report, co-authored by journalist and campaigner Julie Bindel and Helen Atkins, received huge media coverage last month.

But critics accused it of conflating fears over trafficking with general prostitution.

Brooks-Gordon said: You can't just churn out political propaganda and say it's research. You end up with very dangerous policy. The government has to bear responsibility if they have put tenders out for research and the people carrying out that research are not following full ethics procedures.

She called the report a shocker. Not only is the methodology flawed but it shows a complete lack of understanding about the sex industry.

...Read full article

Amanda Platell write of her sickening encounter with vermin in lap-dance clubs ... their existence degrades us all'

In the past, councils could oppose one of these clubs on moral grounds, but now a premises licence can be rejected only on grounds of preventing crime or safeguarding public safety. In other words, strip clubs are treated in the same way as a restaurant or pub.

And in a chilling way, to allow these sex clubs to open on the High Street normalises them. You could get off at the Tube, pop in for a lapdance or two then pick up the family Thai takeaway on the way home. It's utterly disgusting.

...

A private dance was £20 each, the VIP private room performance anything up to £250, with champagne. I asked her what I'd get for that and she rocked slowly backwards and forwards towards me suggestively, never losing eye contact.

I touch myself, I touch you, you touch me.

That is probably the most depressing sentence I've ever heard in my life. It says it all about what life is like for these girls.

I know no one makes them do it, but how utterly barren their existence must be.

How depressing to have to fake excitement when there is none, affect affection when you can't decide who makes you feel more disgusted - your client or yourself.

Touching or no touching, no amount of rationalising can get away from the fact that what these girls are selling is sex.

...Read the full nastiness

Man hating nutters plan to name and shame men who use Croydon brothels.

Croydon Community Against Trafficking (CCAT) are considering taking photographs of men who visit brothels and put them on the internet in an attempt to stamp out the sex industry in the town.

A spokesman for CCAT said the demand for the sex industry in Croydon was directly fuelling the supply of trafficked women. He said they were going to target punters visiting brothels to reduce the demand for sexual services: We are going to hit this hard until those guys zip up their trousers, stop thinking between their legs and start thinking with their heads.

We have thought about standing outside known brothels and taking pictures of car number plates and the men that visit and putting them up on a website like isthis-yourhusband.com.

One of CCAT's main aims is to stop local newspapers carrying adult advertisements. Over 40 per cent of men access off-street prostitutes through the local media.

The Croydon Guardian, and publisher Newsquest's 305 titles nationwide banned adult advertisements in July. CCAT said it is putting pressure on other local newspapers to follow suit.

Human Rights Abuser

Home Office press release:

THINK TWICE ABOUT PAYING FOR SEX

The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today announced her intention to work with the police and other partners to outlaw paying for sex with someone controlled for another person's gain. This is aimed at protecting vulnerable individuals, for example those who have been trafficked or exploited in some other way.

This follows a six month Government review into tackling the demand for prostitution, which explored both the legislative and non-legislative options available as well as learning from the experiences of other countries such as Sweden and Holland.

The review identified a number of measures to improve the protection of vulnerable women including criminalising those supporting the exploitation by purchasing sex from them.

The Home Secretary also announced:

• A crackdown on kerb-crawlers - removing the need to prove that a person has acted persistently. This will ensure that kerb-crawlers can be prosecuted on a first offence
• New powers to close premises associated with prostitution - allowing police to close brothels for a period of three months. At the moment, police can only close premises associated with prostitution if anti-social behaviour or Class A drugs are involved

The Home Secretary also indicated her intention to give greater powers to local people and Local Authorities to control the opening and regulation of lap-dancing clubs, through changes in legislation.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:

The Government has a responsibility to protect those who have been groomed or trafficked into prostitution, or for those who remain involved for fear of violence from a partner or a pimp. So we will start work to outlaw paying for sex with someone forced into prostitution at another's will or controlled for another's gain.

Communities shouldn't have to put up with street prostitution. The package of measures I have announced today will help the police and local people to crack down on it.

Minister for Women and Equality Harriet Harman said:

We must protect women from being victims of human trafficking – the modern slave trade.

The trade only exists because men buy sex, so to protect women we must stop men buying sex from the victims of human trafficking.

Commenting on the potential new regulation of lap-dancing clubs, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said:

Local people are often best placed to know the needs of their area and to find home-grown solutions.

These new measures, alongside the robust planning powers councils already have, will see communities taking ownership/control of the environment in which they live, ensuring safer, more welcoming neighbourhoods.

Communities have an important role to play in tackling the local issues that can affect their everyday lives and their neighbours' welfare.

Justice Minister Maria Eagle said:

I welcome these measures which underline the importance the Government places on ensuring the appropriate protection and safety for women involved in street prostitution and the wider community.


Notes to Editors:

1. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced a package of new offences designed to tackle various forms of sexual exploitation. These included:
• Causing of inciting prostitution for gain
• Controlling prostitution for gain
• Trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation
There are however currently no specific offences to tackle those who pay or offer to pay for sex with someone who has been trafficked or exploited, unless there is sufficient evidence to prove that person knew the person selling sex did not consent to sexual intercourse. In these situations, the police and prosecutors would look at prosecution for rape. The Government's intention is to look at criminalising those who pay or offer to pay for sex with victims of these crimes in order to deter the sex buyers who fuel illegal exploitative and coercive practices, as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

2. In England and Wales, the act of purchasing sex is not a criminal offence. There are, however, offences that effectively prohibit individuals from paying for sex on the street or in a public place. The Sexual Offences Act 1985 introduced two distinct offences which can be used to prosecute those who buy sex:

• kerb crawling (where someone solicits from a motor vehicle, or within the vicinity of a motor vehicle), for the purposes of prostitution, persistently or in a manner that is likely to cause annoyance to people in the neighbourhood; or

• persistent soliciting for the purposes of prostitution (effectively kerb crawling but without a vehicle)

The Government now intends to remove the 'persistence' requirement from both offences and in the case of kerb-crawling to remove the alternative requirement of "in a manner that is likely to cause annoyance to people in the neighbourhood". The purpose is to make it possible to prosecute the kerb crawler in the first instance, increasing the deterrent to those who consider paying for sex on the street or in a public place.

3. At present, the police have no powers to close premises associated with the sexual exploitation of adults or children, unless there is sufficient evidence to warrant the use of a premise closure order or a crack house closure order. However, many premises where sexual exploitation takes place will not be associated with anti-social behaviour or the use, supply or production of Class A drugs. This means that in practice, premises that are subject to police investigations for offences relating to sexual exploitation can reopen and begin operating again quickly.

The Government now intends to introduce a new order that allows for such premises to be closed and sealed for a set period, providing an opportunity for agencies to act swiftly and decisively to prevent further exploitation and abuse from taking place. The order will prohibit entry to the premises by any individual for a period of three months.

4. The results of the recent lap dancing consultation made it clear that Local Authorities in England and Wales felt that the Licensing Act 2003 offers little or no opportunity for local communities to object to lap dancing clubs opening in their local area and has limited powers for Local Authorities to control the growth of these establishments. Difficulties arise where residents and local authorities try to use the current legislation to tackle general concerns about these clubs being situated in a particular area (for example, near schools, historic tourist areas or churches) or because of concerns about equality, public decency, obscenity and the sexual exploitation of women.

The Government now intends to give greater powers to Local Authorities and local communities to control the opening and regulation of lap dancing clubs and will do this in consultation with stakeholders through legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Don't fuck with Jacqui Smith ...she's 'controlled' by Gordon Brown

Kerb-crawling and soliciting for prostitutes on the streets are to be outlawed as part of a mean minded tightening of the law, the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, announced.

Smith outlined a three-point plan at the Labour conference that will:

• Remove the requirement that only persistent kerb crawlers and men who solicit on the street can be prosecuted. An alternative requirement for kerb-crawlers - that they act in a manner that is likely to cause annoyance to people in the neighbourhood - is also to be removed. The changes will mean that kerb-crawlers and men soliciting sex on the street can be prosecuted after a first offence.
• Give new powers to councils and the police to close down brothels for at least three months if prostitutes are being run by a pimp or have been trafficked. At the moment, police can only close brothels if there is anti-social behaviour and if Class-A drugs are involved.
• Change the law so that men can be prosecuted if they pay for sex with women who are exploited - controlled for another person's gain, as Smith said. Currently, police can only pursue a prosecution if they can prove that the women did not consent to sex, which means they have to compile evidence of rape.

The home secretary also announced that communities will be given more say in lap-dancing clubs opening in their areas.

Smith announced the new measures on prostitution after a six-month government review into prostitution that focused on how Sweden and the Netherlands deal with the problem.

We will do more to tackle the blight of street prostitution, Smith told the Labour conference in Manchester. At the moment only persistent kerb-crawling is outlawed. In my book, once around the block is once too many - and so we'll make kerb-crawling punishable as a first offence.

The government will also toughen the law to prosecute men who pay for sex with women who are run by a pimp or who have been trafficked. Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader who is also equality minister, said: We must protect women from being victims of human trafficking - the modern slave trade. The trade only exists because men buy sex, so to protect women we must stop men buying sex from the victims of human trafficking.

Based on article from theargus.co.uk

 A Government source later confirmed that legislation will be introduced in the next Parliamentary session, which starts in November, with a view to changing the licensing rules by the middle of next year.

It is not yet known whether lap dancing clubs will in future be placed in the same category as sex establishments such as sex shops and adult cinemas, or whether a new category will be created for them. It is also unclear whether existing clubs will be forced to reapply for new licenses when the reforms come into effect.

The Government source told The Argus full details would be determined shortly but stressed the aim of the legislation would be to “make it much more difficult” for new lap dancing clubs to open.

A pole dancing club has been licensed to open in Plymouth. Councillors said they were powerless to refuse the application because they are shackled by widely criticised new Licensing Act.

The Pilgrims Sports Bar thus became one of scores cashing in on a boom in pole dancing and lap dancing clubs.

In a landmark challenge to the spread of lap dancing clubs, police began legal action to overturn the decision. Lawyers for Devon and Cornwall constabulary took the rare step of appealing retrospectively against the licence decision rather than simply opposing it.

Their objection is that it would attract groups of young men from other areas and turn it into a potential trouble spot.

Police appeal proceedings have started before Plymouth magistrates, who set a pre-hearing review for November 13 in anticipation of a full hearing next year.

Nutter city councillor Lynda Bowyer said: The Barbican is the jewel in Plymouth's crown. We should have the power to control pole dancing and lap dancing clubs and to legislate for them to be kept away from unsuitable places.

Pilgrims licensee Richard Netherton said he had tried to ensure there would be minimal disturbance from the club.

Update: Sirens

23rd October 2008

Sirens offered pole-dancing and private lap dances at its launch party on 18th October 2008. Residents say they were unaware the bar had been turned into a strip club until they saw scantily clad women hanging around outside.

The new research by the Poppy Project, Big Brothel, a survey of the off-street sex industry in Lodon, has generated shock and headlines that sex can be purchased in London for as little as £15 and highlighted the fact that sex without condoms is available.

However, closer inspection of the data reveals that only 2% of brothels contacted by phone by researchers offer sex without condoms. This leaves a very impressive 98% of establishments insisting on condom use. Many brothels charge for the amount of time a customer spends with a sex worker and the £15 fee quoted does not specify whether or not this is for a 10- or 15-minute appointment. Certainly, according to the research, the average fee is more than £60, with some charging up to £250 for sex. The survey found no concrete evidence of girls under 18 working in brothels – the average age was 21.

...

Evidence from the recent police and Home Office joint operation – Pentameter Two – a comprehensive and intelligence-led sweep of brothels across the land, netted only double figures of suspected trafficking victims. Denis MacShane has quoted a figure of 25,000 trafficked women and children in this country. Where are the others? Either the police are doing a lousy job at flushing them out or more likely, they're not here in the numbers quoted.

...Read full article

I'm a sex worker – don't take away my livelihood

See also article from guardian.co.uk by Lara

The 'Big Brothel' report paints women in my industry as victims. Some may be – but to generalise is patronising and offensive.

I work from a flat on which I pay the mortgage – I do not have any landlord to worry about. I charge £150 per hour and I get enough enquiries to enable me to choose my own working hours. In a typical day I drop my children off at school at 9am, return home, shower and get changed into my alter-ego, Lara (we never use our own names). I then might have an hour's appointment at 11am and another at 1pm, leaving me with a break of an hour in between to shower and refresh myself. I then fetch myself a late lunch and am at the school again to collect my children at 3:30pm. It works. I never see more than two clients a day; most days I see only one; on other days none at all. Yet in just three hours' work I can earn the same as I used to earn in a week working at the office.

My clients are on the whole middle-aged businessmen. I have never been treated with anything less than respect by any one of them. I have not been physically or sexually abused by any of them. Of course I have my security systems in place should anything go wrong, but so far nothing has. My children have their mother now, and not just on a part-time basis. I have time with them to enjoy their childhoods, without any of us suffering financially. I am not making big bucks – but I am earning a little more money to boot.

...Read full article

The Tories have always had a hands on approach to supporting local talent

Conservative MPs have been given discount vouchers for a lap dancing club near their party conference venue.

The vouchers, offering a £10 reduction on entry to Birmingham's Rocket Club, were in a booklet sent out to delegates with official conference literature.

The Rocket Club, describes itself as an exclusive gentlemen's entertainment venue. On any night we have up to 50 of the world's most beautiful girls.

In July, the Conservatives called for communities to be given stronger powers to block the opening of lap dancing clubs.

The Conservative Party spokeswoman said the booklet containing the voucher had been put together by the PR firm Marketing Birmingham. She said: It is a booklet full of advertisements to promote Birmingham, not the official conference guide. We distributed the booklet with our conference literature.

Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe, a former shadow home secretary, told the Sunday Express: I can hardly believe this is true. I know the Conservative Party is supposed to be modernising but do we have to throw every value out of the window? Can you imagine what our old ladies are going to make of it if they turn up there by mistake?

The Dutch electronics company, Philips, said it will launch a range of sex toys in Selfridges and Boots stores.

Jayson Otke, a Philips spokesman, said the products are designed to enhance couples' sexual well-being, and are specifically target the hitherto "neglected" group of sex toy users aged between 35 and 55.

Otke said the three new products will be called collectively the Intimate Massage Range, consisting of the Warm Intimate Massage, the Warm Massage and the Intimate Dual Massage.

They are attractive to look at, targeted at the over-35 market, designed like beautiful stones with contours that vibrate and in a tasteful purple case.

You would not be embarrassed to leave the product in full view of the family. The products are marketed for couples, are none-penetrative, not phallic shaped and are not meant to replace the partner but to enhance the sex life of both partners.

A sex shop which had its licence revoked in a row over saucy adverts has been allowed to continue trading.

A legal dispute began when adult superstore Pulse and Cocktails put up two billboards along the A695 in Blaydon, Gateshead.

Gateshead Council said the billboards breached the first condition of the shop's trading licence which does not allow adverts to be placed anywhere other than on shop units.

But now, after an appeal by store owners Cocktails Ltd, the licence has been reinstated and the signs could return.

Owner Graham Kidd said: We are extremely pleased. Because of this decision, five people can keep their jobs. When the signs went down everyone thought we were closed.

Pulse and Cocktails is the only licensed sex shop in Gateshead and runs from a retail outlet in Tundry Way.

It had previously traded as an unlicensed shop but spent two years battling for a full licence allowing it to stock hardcore pornography videos and DVDs. The store is also allowed to sell sex dolls and kinky French maid outfits.

Pulse & Cocktails poster in Stoke which was cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority

Cocktails Ltd rejected the council's ruling because it said while the sign did advertise the sex shop, it only advertised items in a separate, unlicensed section of the store which does not sell pornography. The business said it has no intention of putting up signs advertising pornography.

Magistrates in Blaydon said: Even if we had found the condition had been breached we would still have set aside the revocation as we feel that Mr Kidd runs his business in a responsible manner.

We believe Mr Kidd would not knowingly breach the condition, and when the alleged breach was brought to his attention he immediately took steps to have the advertisement removed.

Furthermore Cocktail's legal costs are to be paid by Gateshead Council.

But local nutters are predictably disappointed with the decision, with many saying they feel uncomfortable with a sex shop on their doorstep.

Blaydon councillor Stephen Ronchetti said: Sex shops are not illegal and it's not for us to make moral judgements, ...BUT... you would maybe expect the owners of the shop to show a bit more sensitivity to the views of local residents. If they do put them back up then they are showing a contempt for local residents opposed to them.

The council said further discussions about exactly what kind of advertising the shop can use are ongoing.

Mr Kidd who also owns sex shops in Middlesbrough, Leeds, Sheffield and Lincoln, said: We didn't think the signs were provocative. They were fully checked out by the Advertising Standards Agency. All it shows is a lady in a sexy fancy dress costume.

Brothels in London are offering sex for as little as £15, an anti-prostitution campaign report says.

Some are charging just £10 extra for unprotected intercourse. The report also found that 85% of brothels in the capital operate in residential areas.

The report has been compiled by the Poppy Project, which campaigns against prostitution. Campaigners posing as potential punters telephoned 921 brothels that had advertised in local newspapers.

They also found 77 different ethnicities of women were selling sex, many from eastern Europe and south-east Asia.

The average age of the women was 21, but several places offered very very young girls" but did not admit to having underage girls available, the report said.

According to the Poppy Project, the average price for full sex was about £62.

Co-author Helen Atkins said: This research shows the disturbing prevalence of the sex industry in every corner of London - fuelled by the demand for prostitution services.

Multi-media misrepresentations of commercial sex as a glamorous, easy and fun career choice for girls and women further contribute to the ubiquity of London's brothel industry.

However, for most women involved in prostitution, the reality is a cycle of violence and coercion, perpetuated by poverty and inequality.

Claims that lap-dancing clubs are opening because of a loophole in the law are wrong, a leading licensing lawyer says.

Women's no-rights for men groups have been calling on the Government to classify lap-dancing clubs as sex encounter establishments.

Clubs are currently treated in the same way as a bar or restaurant and only need a premises licence to operate.

Campaigners said this is due to a 'loophole' in the Licensing Act 2003, and that the number of clubs has doubled since 2004.

But Richard Arnot, head of licensing and gaming at law firm Mincoffs, in Jesmond, Newcastle, disputes the existence of such a loophole. He said: I read with increasing frequency campaigners complaining the lap-dancing venues take advantage of a loophole in the law and impose themselves on communities who simply do not want them. The reality, however, is that no such loophole exists in the Licensing Act 2003.

Adult entertainment was exhaustively debated in Parliament before the Act became law, and it was sensibly concluded that they had no business in engaging in censorship.

What one individual finds immoral is not necessarily what would concern another. Adults are free to make their own choices and if they consider lap-dancing an acceptable form of entertainment, they should be perfectly entitled to pay to enter a well-run venue. However, if adult entertainment can be proved to be detrimental to law and order, safety, nuisance or the obligation to protect children from harm then, quite rightly, applications should be refused. This is the crux of the matter.

The simple truth is that, despite lap-dancing venues operating for over ten years in this country, there is very little evidence to suggest that they are in any way detrimental.

In a nation where freedom of speech is so cherished, should it not also be the case that we should protect the freedom to enjoy whatever form of entertainment, so long as it is legal, that we choose.

Interestingly, the arguments advanced in opposition to lap-dancing venues are almost identical to those used by objectors to a number of gay bars that we represent. We wonder how many campaigners would publicly attach themselves to those who find those sorts of venues immoral.

But we had better watch out because as soon as morality becomes relevant, our secular society could become very different.

Nutters in New Cross have won their crusade against a hotel's plan to open a striptease and lap-dancing club.

An application by the White Hart Hotel, in New Cross Road, New Cross, to open a strip club on the premises was refused by a Lewisham Council licensing committee.

More than 100 letters of objection and three petitions signed by 232 residents against the plan were received by the council, including a letter of objection from the police. However, a petition with 189 signatures was received by the council in support of the plan.

The White Hart owner Ken Linwood said that a lap-dancing club was his only hope of saving his struggling business. He intends to appeal the decision.

The police also expressed bollox concerns at the meeting over the impact the club would have on crime in the area. At the meeting Lewisham Police head of licensing PC Andy Laurie said: My concern is that the club will attract more people from outside the area and add to crime. It's not a risk we should take. [Surely the police should not be allowed to make political objections without justification. Since when does 'people outside the area' imply an increase in criminality?]

There is a plan to open a club in West Norwood, South London. This is reported to be featuring strippers and lap dancers.

It is predictably attracting growing opposition. There is now an online petition against it quoting loaded rape statistics from the nutters of the Lilith Project.

New Labour's Tessa Jowell has chipped in with her support:

I share fully the widely held views in West Norwood of the potentially very serious consequences to the local community should this licence application be approved. As your local Member of Parliament I have written to Lambeth Council's Licensing Department outlining local residents’ strong objections to this license application.

I know that that great efforts are being made to put West Norwood on the map such as the campaign to have a leisure centre with a swimming pool and to attract more businesses and shops. This application will put West Norwood on the map for entirely the wrong reasons!

I hope that this totally inappropriate license application is turned down.

There is not much sign of opposition to this nutter campaign but correspondence in support of the bar has been published in the local paper

Nutters are "horrified" by a hotel's plan to open a striptease and lap dancing club in New Cross, London.

An application by the White Hart Hotel, New Cross Road, New Cross, to open a strip club on the premises has prompted more than 100 objections and three petitions from residents against the plan. The police have also put in a letter of objection.

Many residents say they fear the proposal, which would see the club stay open till 3am, will lead to an increase in crime in the area.

In a letter of objection Ayana Sakey, of Deptford Broadway, Deptford, said: That part of New Cross is already a frightening and unpleasant place to be after dark. How much worse is this going to be when there are inebriated, sexually-frustrated punters spilling out of a sleazy nightspot in the early hours of the morning?

TV researcher Bridget Gregory says the area is largely residential, with many families living there. The hotel is right in the heart of the community, with a chemist, doctor's surgery and schools nearby. A strip club doesn't promote a safe environment, so it's a terrible location for one.

However, a petition has been sent to the council supporting the plan.

White Hart owner Kenneth Linwood said: The business was really struggling before and this is the only way I can survive. There's been a lot of comments about a strip club bringing trouble to the area but it's complete rubbish. There will be no access to children and there will be an over 21 door policy with strict security.

Erotice Trade Only (ETO) is a trade organisation representing UK adult companies. They present annual awards that are decided by members votes

ETO Awards 2008 (trade awards):

Best Trade Marketing - Id Lubricants
Also Nominated:
Gotlingerie
Darker Enterprises
Net 1On1
Scala

Best Magazine Distributor - Uk Distribution
Also Nominated:
Dbs Distribution
Dom Promotions
Jd Distribution
Rmd

Best R18 Dvd Distributor - Darker Enterprises
Also Nominated:
Abs Holdings
Nice ‘N’ Naughty Wholesale
Phoenix Films
Queensway Distribution

Best Erotic Goods Distributor - Scala
Also Nominated:
Abs Holdings
Apollo Wholesale
Darker Enterprises
Net 1On1

Best Overseas Distributor - Scala Bv
Also Nominated:
Eurocreme
Loadxxx
Mister B
Orion

Best Lingerie Distributor - Gotlingerie
Also Nominated:
Bella International
Blue Moon Lingerie
Honour
Not Taboo

Best Sales Team - Abs Holdings
Also Nominated:
Apollo Wholesale
Gotlingerie
Id Lubricants/Creative Conceptions
Net 1On1

Services To The Industry - Ben Dover
Also Nominated:
Jacqueline Gold
Stuart Inglis
Tim Hemming
Mike Wallace

Erotice Trade Only (ETO) is a trade organisation representing UK adult companies. They present annual awards that are decided by members votes

ETO Awards 2008 (those relevant to consumers):

Best British R18 Dvd - Young Harlots Riding School [Harmony]
Also nominated:
Hug A Hoodie [Anna Span]
Lady Tiffany Real Spanking Fantasies [English Amateurs]
Some Mothers Do Shag Em [Mss]
Transvestite Bed & Breakfast [Asphyxiation]

Best Overseas R18 Dvd - Supernatural [Wicked]
Also nominated:
Jason Colt – Mystery Of The Sexy Diamonds [Private]
Manhunters [Wicked]
Roma [Daring]
Sex Warrior Pudding [Japananime]

Best Gay R18 Dvd - Rugby Lads [Euroboy Sport]
Also nominated:
69 Fuck Street [Private]
Council Scum [Triga]
Encounters 3 [Lucas Entertainment]
When Saturday Cums [Triga]

Best Adult Product - Ro80Mm Ammunition For Love Bullet [Rocks-Off]
Also nominated:
Contour Girl Vibe [Toyjoy]
Delight [Fun Factory]
Flame Harness Kit [Tantus]
Passion Wave Stimulator [California Exotic Novelties]

Best Consumable - Id Glide
Also nominated:
Golden Root Complex
Liquid Gold
O'my Natural Lubricant
Orgasm Gel

Best British Film Brand - Anna Span
Also nominated:
Ben Dover
English Amateurs
Harmony
Relish

Best Overseas Film Brand - Private
Also nominated:
Combat Zone
Daring
Japananime
Wicked Pictures

Best Gay Film Brand - Loadxxx
Also nominated:
Eurocreme
Lucas Entertainment
Man Size
Manzone

Best Sex Toy Brand - Toyjoy
Also nominated:
California Exotic Novelties
Fun Factory
Mantric
Pipedream

Best Erotic Clothing Brand - Dreamgirl
Also nominated:
Coquette
Forplay
Hustler Lingerie Wild Designs

Best Online Retailer - Lovehoney.Co.Uk
Also nominated:
Adultworld.Co.Uk
Nicennaughty.Co.Uk
Sexcatalogue.Co.Uk
Sextoys.Co.Uk

Best Retailer - Nice ‘N’ Naughty
Also nominated:
Ann Summers
Harmony
Private Shops
Pulse And Cocktails

Mystery Shopper Award For Best Individual Store - Harmony [Charing Cross Road]
Also nominated:
Simply Pleasure [Leicester]
Ann Summers [Braehead]
Harmony [Oxford Street]
Nua [Manchester]

Best British Performer - Cathy Barry
Also nominated:
Natalie Heck
Poppy Morgan
Wendy Taylor
Omar Williams

Plans for a LGBT centre offering health and social care services, business support and an exhibition space in Soho are moving forward.

Bids are now being considered from consultancy companies to carry out an in-depth feasibility study into the centre, which could model itself on the famous San Francisco LGBT Centre.

Westminster Council estimates that 10% of the 4,000 residents in the area are gay, lesbian or transgender, and if the plan goes ahead the centre will be the largest of its type in the UK.

The proposal was voted the most popular out of 65 initiatives in the Soho Action Plan, a long-term plan to regenerate the area.

Projects include creating a virtual museum to document Soho's vibrant history, increased support to small businesses and improving street lighting and paving.

Westminster also plans to remove all unlicensed sex shops from the area.

Following a series of joint intelligence-led operations with the Metropolitan Police the number has already been cut from 52 to eleven.

The lease of Burnham-On-Sea's Shakers Night Club has been put up on sale. The club and bar on the High Street has been closed for several months and has undergone a substantial refurbishment.

The club controversially won a bid to introduce lap dancing in 2006, but never actually held any displays.

Update: 2010

23rd May 2010. See article from burnham-on-sea.com

Shakers in the High Street has been renamed Skye Bar and Club by its new licensees, Weston couple George Panayi and wife Katie.

The new-look club will open its doors for the first time this Saturday, May 22nd, and will then be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9pm to 2am and on Sundays from 8pm to midnight.

Panayi said there are no current plans to use the lap dancing licence which controversially was given to the club in January 2007.

Nutters have won their long-running fight to stop a Boldon company opening a lap dancing club in Durham City.

The Royal Courts of Justice in London closed the case after Vimac Leisure failed to appeal against the High Court's decision in the given time limit.

The company planned to open a lap dancing club in the Loft nightclub premises at North Road last year but was blocked after residents raised concerns.

In Vimac Leisure's appeal last month, Sir George Newsome, of the High Court, ruled against granting a judicial review of the decision.

The final blow to the leisure company came in a letter from the Royal Courts of Justice.

It stated: No request to reconsider the decision at a hearing has been lodged by the claimant within the period prescribed by the civil procedure rules, rule 54.12(4). Accordingly, I write to inform you that the file in these matters has been closed.

Police have released a still image of the moment an arsonist appears to accidentally set himself alight whilst starting the blaze at the Redd club in Burgess Hill.
CCTV footage caught the suspect in action as they left the club after starting the fire.

Police say this person may have suffered burns or smoke inhalation and witnesses are urgently being sought by police. Detectives discovered petrol cans at the scene last week and are now appealing for more information.

DI Stu Hale said: We are particularly keen to hear from patrol station operatives who may remember selling full or empty green or red fuel canisters, some days or hours prior to approximately 2am on Tuesday July 15. Your information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

We are also keen to trace the person pictured in the CCTV stills. Do you know of anyone who may have suffered smoke inhalation or other more serious effects caused by fire?

Anyone with information about the arson should call DI Hale at Haywards Heath 0845 60 70 999.

Update: Effigy

30th September 2008. Based on article from theargus.co.uk

A burning effigy of a pole dancer was a hot topic of conversation during a bonfire procession.

The tongue-in-cheek figure played a part in the Burgess Hill Bonfire on Saturday night which attracted more than 5,000 people to the town.

The model was a reminder of the blaze which destroyed lap-dancing club Redd, above the Martlets shopping centre in Burgess Hill, in July.

About 22 bonfire societies from across Sussex turned out for the lengthy procession which went down well with the crowds.

Update: Pagan Temple

9th November 2009. See article from bognor.co.uk

The owner of the arson-wrecked Redd Club says he wants to re-open it as a pagan temple. Leo Valls has told councillors he intends to run the lap-dancing club at The Martlets, Burgess Hill, as a place of religious worship known as Redd Temple.

The upper-storey club and a seperately-run bar underneath were both wrecked by an arson attack last year, although police have been unable to charge anyone for the attack.

An application to rebuild the site has yet to be decided by Mid Sussex District Council, which this week confirmed there is still a current licence.

West Ham MP Lyn Brown has added her voice to the nutter opposition against a proposed lap dancing club in Stratford.

Nutters fear an application by the owners of the Chevy Chase in Leytonstone Road to vary its licence to allow exotic dancing, will lead to nude pole dancing if granted.

Ms Brown, who has already supported a bill to tighten up regulations on licensing rules and make it easier for councils to stop lap dancing in their boroughs, has now joined the fray.

She said: This application is unwelcome in our community - an area steeped in traditional family values.

Newham Council's Licensing Sub-Committee will make a decision after hearing objections to the proposal this week.

Plans to give greater powers to local communities to determine whether lap dancing clubs should be set up in their area will be unveiled by the Conservatives today.

Theresa May, Shadow Minister for Women, will announce that the Tories will give local authorities the power to decide whether a lap dancing club is appropriate.

A three month consultation with local authorities, starting today, will determine the most effective way of changing the current regulations, she says.

Local communities should be able to decide whether it is appropriate for lap dancing clubs to operate in their area, says Ms May: Local people often have legitimate reasons for objecting to the planned location of a lap dancing club - if it is near a school or a library for instance.

In the UK, there has been much discussion over how adult entertainment should be regulated on the Internet. Parliament has been considering some controversial legislation that would make it a felony to download what some British politicians have been loosely describing as "extreme pornography," and the BBFC — which has been critical of the proposed "extreme porn" law — is launching a voluntary program that will extend its rating system to online entertainment, including erotica.

No one can say for sure exactly where the regulation of adult online content will go in the UK in the future, and like so many things pertaining to the Internet, the rules are still being worked out.

...Read full article

Police believe a huge fire that ripped through a nightclub in West Sussex was started deliberately.

More than 100 firefighters from Surrey and Sussex tackled the blaze which destroyed the recently-opened Redd lap dancing club in Burgess Hill.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue said the intensity of the fire above the Martlets Shopping Centre on Tuesday had put the lives of their staff at risk.

Sussex Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.

Det Insp Stu Hale said: We believe Redd's was intentionally targeted by arsonists, and would urge anyone who was in the vicinity of The Martlets shopping precinct from around 1am on Tuesday July 15, to come forward and let us know what they may have seen or heard.

Update: Arsonist Caught on CCTV

28th July 2008

Police have released a still image of the moment an arsonist appears to accidentally set himself alight whilst starting the blaze at the Redd club in Burgess Hill.
CCTV footage caught the suspect in action as they left the club after starting the fire.

Police say this person may have suffered burns or smoke inhalation and witnesses are urgently being sought by police. Detectives discovered petrol cans at the scene last week and are now appealing for more information.

DI Stu Hale said: We are particularly keen to hear from patrol station operatives who may remember selling full or empty green or red fuel canisters, some days or hours prior to approximately 2am on Tuesday July 15. Your information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

We are also keen to trace the person pictured in the CCTV stills. Do you know of anyone who may have suffered smoke inhalation or other more serious effects caused by fire?

Anyone with information about the arson should call DI Hale at Haywards Heath 0845 60 70 999.

Feminists will doubtless be appalled at the news that 27 years after the original Playboy Club in London closed its doors, the bunny has bounced back.

Hugh Hefner's company is scouting locations with a view to opening a new venue in the capital.

Seventies women's libbers will reflect sadly on the fact that liberation currently means the freedom for a young woman to dress as a swinging Sixties pin-up.

But they can draw consolation from the probability that the new crop of bunny girls will seem demure by comparison to your average laddette flashing her Bristols in Ibiza - or, of course, Dubai.

In the last two months, Westminster Council licensing inspectors have raided and closed down two illegal hostess bars, which lured men in under the false premise of adult entertainment then charged them exorbitant rates for soft drinks in the company of hostesses. One of these hostess bars was also an illegal gambling club.

Clip joints, as they are informally known, have previously circumvented licensing legislation by not selling alcohol or offering adult entertainment, despite displaying garish signs such as “sexy girls”.

But following extensive lobbying from Westminster City Council, the LLA Act 2007 (London Local Authorities Act) means the venues now need to apply for a sex establishment licence if they wish to continue trading, putting them under the control of the local licensing authority for the first time.

Two years ago there were eight clip joints operating in Westminster but tough enforcement by Westminster Council and the Metropolitan Police for breaches of planning and health and safety regulations has led to the closure of six.

A lap-dancing club in Burgess Hill, West Sussex has been destroyed in a massive blaze - just three weeks after it opened amid fierce opposition.

Two firefighters narrowly escaped with their lives after the roof of the venue - which was empty at the time - collapsed in what was described as a 'giant bonfire' that could be seen seven miles away.

Police are investigating the possibility that it was burnt down by someone angry at the decision to launch Club Redd.

Firefighters used a sniffer dog to search for signs of petrol or other flammable liquids and police checked CCTV footage for a possible arsonist in the area early yesterday morning.

Speaking outside the still-smouldering shell today, manager Leo Valls said he was absolutely convinced the fire had been started deliberately. He said: Myself and my fellow owners had been subjected to vicious, abusive, vitriolic attacks on an internet site we set up to promote the club. We also received very unpleasant threats. I have no doubt that this was done by someone who hated the thought of a lapdancing club in Burgess Hill. But we will not let them beat us. We will rebuild and reopen as soon as possible.

Despite the local opposition, Mr Valls had been due to meet with council officials hours after the blaze started to discuss plans to expand the club's size by a third and extend opening times until at least 6am. He said business was booming in the club, which was open from Tuesday to Saturday and took up to £9,000 a night.

Nutters are celebrating after a last-chance bid to open Durham's first lap-dancing bar was thrown out.

South Tyneside firm Vimac Leisure went to the High Court to overturn the rejection of its controversial application to start a lap-dancing club in the centre of Durham.

The company sought the Judicial Review after magistrates overruled the city council's approval for the controversial planning application following strong objections from residents.

The decision in London yesterday has been welcomed by Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods who has led a campaign to make it easier for local authorities to turn down attempts to open lap-dancing clubs.

Magistrates found that the city council were wrong in granting the application for The Loft in the first place on all four of the relevant licensing objectives. The High Court has reinforced that decision and found that there is absolutely no need for a review into the matter.

In his decision, senior judge Sir George Newman wrote: It is absurd to suggest that a table-dancing club with booth dancing will not impact upon a neighbourhood. He also cited evidence given by Dr Blackman-Woods.

The machine needs to be fed. When you have 650 members of parliament elected to make laws, and an army of 500,000 civil servants whose job is to make sure that those laws work, and more legions in Brussels making more laws, there is never going to be any respite. The machine can never rest until absolutely everything is illegal.

...

Today the machine is running out of people wearing high-visibility jackets to enforce its avalanche of new laws and so it is dispensing with the courts system and locking up people who may be innocent. And still it whirrs, announcing last week that it is going to ban people from becoming sexually aroused.

At the moment lap-dancing clubs are classified in the same category as coffee shops and karaoke bars. Quite why coffee shops or karaoke bars need to be “classified” by a government agent in a high-visibility jacket we are not told.

Nor is there much evidence that this classification system is working because, so far as I can tell, every single town in Britain these days is equally terrible - a vomit-stained centre full of estate agents, charity shops and building societies, ringed with a prefabricated, fluorescent sprawl of people in purple shirts trying to sell you Pentium processors and button-backed leatherette sofas.

At least a lap-dancing club brings a bit of individuality to a town, a bit of a respite from the endless chain stores and horrible pound shops. Sadly, though, the machine disagrees. It says that such places provide “visual sexual stimulation” and as a result councils must be allowed to prevent new ones from opening and perhaps must even close existing venues.

...Read full article

New controls on lap-dancing clubs are planned by the Government following the nutter outcry over their rapid proliferation across the country.

50 Labour MPs were demanding that ministers closed a planning rule that forced councils to treat the clubs in the same way as cafes. There are now 300 pole-dancing venues in England and they are opening at a rate of almost one a week.

Gerry Sutcliffe, the Culture minister, signalled a clamp-down on the clubs as he admitted that the Government was worried by their rapid increase.

Ministers are preparing to amend licensing legislation so that lap-dancing clubs are classed as "sex encounter establishments" alongside sex cinemas and peep shows. Sutcliffe wrote to all England councils last night seeking their views on the issue. Whitehall sources made clear the move was the first step to new planning rules being imposed on the clubs.

Roberta Blackman-Woods, the Labour MP for Durham won cross-party support in the Commons yesterday for the first reading of a Bill designed to bring in the new laws. But it is unlikely to become law due to a lack of parliamentary time.

MPs are being urged to back calls to give local authorities the power to turn down applications for controversial lap dance clubs.

Currently, lap dance clubs are licensed in the same way as any ordinary pub or karaoke night with a Premises License.

Labour's Roberta Blackman-Woods says they should instead be licensed as "sex encounter establishments", to put them on a par with sex shops and cinemas.

She will outline her concerns in a 10-minute Rule Bill on Wednesday. Her bill is unlikely to become law without government backing, but provides her with a platform on which to spark debate.

Blackman-Woods says while it is not impossible for councils to turn down these applications if they think they would be inappropriate, it is difficult and should be easier.

The Government is open to the idea of re-classifying lap-dancing clubs as sex encounter rather than entertainment venues.

This could happen if feedback from councils shows the Licensing Act gives insufficient power for councillors to impose their own morality on people.

Labour peer Lord Bassam told the House of Lords that some authorities feel they are not adequately able to control these establishments under the Licensing Act.

Bassam revealed:

We are in the process of providing additional guidance for local authorities on the Licensing Act and how it can be used to deal with lap-dancing clubs.

As part of this process, we will be asking licensing authorities for feedback if they still have concerns. This will tell us if the controls under the Licensing Act are sufficient, or whether we need to do more to protect local communities.

If we find that there is a need to provide licensing authorities with additional powers to deal with any nuisance or criminal activity associated with lap-dancing establishments, we will consider the full range of options.

This could include changes to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, which regulates sex-encounter establishments (such as sex shops and sex cinemas).

Lap Dancing Association (LDA) spokeswoman Kate Nicholls said: We don't see that there's any need for re-classification to address the concerns raised. The LDA favours tightening up loopholes in the Licensing Act. For example, ensuring a major variation to a licence is always needed to host lap dancing.

30th October - 2nd November 2008

Welcome to the website for the UK's only arts festival focusing on the erotic. The Leeds Erotica Festival will bring erotic art, literature, film, music, performance and discussion to the city of Leeds.

Encompassing a wide range of artistic events and dealing with erotica in a serious, tasteful and intelligent manner, Leeds Erotica Festival aims to dispel the stigma associated with erotica by encouraging discussion and open appreciation of the genre. The festival will educate and enlighten visitors whilst providing space for thought provoking art, entertaining performance and sexual indulgence.

Workshops, competitions and classes will inspire visitors to discover their hidden creative talents and embrace their erotic side. Must-see cinema, show stopping cabaret, and unmissable nights of debauchery will make the Leeds Erotica Festival the most gratifying celebration of erotica the UK has ever witnessed.

A battle the very soul of Scotland will shortly erupt in Holyrood, when Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, lays the Sexual Offences Bill before parliament in the next week or so.

One area of contention which will cause some tittering is the proposal to decriminalise sadomasochism. The argument goes that consenting adults should not become criminals simply because they have a taste for whips and leather.

But Nigel Don, a justice committee member, has raised the fear that decriminalisation may open a loophole for domestic abuse. I understand his concerns have got civil servants looking at the proposal again.

The most headline-grabbing part of the bill will be the proposal from the Scottish Law Commission, partly supported the by Children's Commissioner, Kathleen Marshall, that teenagers under the age of 16 should be allowed to have sex with each other but not adults. Some fear this will push the age of consent down to 13, as it is in Spain. But with Scotland facing an increasing number of abortions and teenage pregnancies, there have been suggestions that legalising sex at 13 will be an invitation to Scottish youth to start copulating en masse. But many ask why should teenagers be turned into criminals for doing what comes naturally.

The mood in parliament is against the liberals. It has not been long since MSPs voted to turn kerb-crawlers into criminals, although it did not go as far as what community safety minister Fergus "Impound their Cars" Ewing wanted.

With drinking and smoking, Holyrood's new puritans took a morally conservative line telling people what is good for them rather than letting them decide for themselves. So be prepared for more of the same with sex.

A poster, for a For Your Eyes Only table dancing club, showed a group of semi-naked women lying down together; they were wearing only knickers and their arms covered their breasts. Text stated FOR YOUR EYES ONLY The Ultimate Table Dancing Club ... OPENING 22 FEBRUARY 2008.

Complainants objected that the ad was offensive and unsuitable for display where it could be seen by children.

FYEO said the image used was no more explicit than those in other ads for shower gels or lingerie. They therefore believed it was unlikely to offend. They pointed out that clause 5.3 of the CAP Code stated The fact that a particular product is offensive to some people is not sufficient grounds for objecting to a marketing communication for it and they believed that was relevant to the complaints about their ad.

The ASA noted several of the complainants believed the ad was sexist and degrading to women. We noted the women were semi-naked and their poses might be seen as sexually suggestive. However, we considered that, in the context of an ad for a table dancing club, the image was unlikely to be seen as unduly explicit or overly provocative. We concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence and was not unsuitable to be seen by children.

No further action required.

Nominations have been published for the Erotic Trade Only Awards.

As one might expect, most awards are for adult industry traders but here are the nominations that may be of interest to consumers.

Newcastle council faced an angry nutter backlash after ruling out objections to shows featuring scantily clad dancers in a shower cubicle.

The row is over a decision to allow plans to install a shower booth at the recently licensed Purple Door lap dancing bar in Newcastle without a hearing in front of the city council'
s licensing sub committee.

The council received 17 objections, but after taking legal advice, officers have ruled them all invalid under Government licensing regulations because none live or work in the immediate vicinity.

The Purple Door, in Neville Street opposite Newcastle Central Station, was granted a licence in January and later applied for a variation allowing it to install a shower room for dancers to entertain customers. There were no objections to the original application for a premises licence by Lookchart Ltd, a subsidiary of the Tyneside-based Absolute Leisure chain.

One objector to the shower booth was the Newcastle-based Christian Institute which said it was a mistake to grant a licence so close to the station, a children'
s nursery, family attractions and St Mary'
s Cathedral. Deputy director Simon Calvert argued performances in the shower booth would increase the risk of men becoming a nuisance when they leave the premises.

He said: The council is obliged to take into account the views of people who are directly affected and this place is opposite Central Station so anybody who uses the station can be affected. It shows shocking disregard for the views of the electorate. It is very worrying to suggest that unless people live next door they have no right to object.'


Coun Anita Lower, Liberal Democrat, executive member for regulation on Newcastle Council, said: This affects people across the city and they should have a right to make representations. Opposition Labour leader, Coun Nick Forbes, said: People'
s objections need to be heard. The council needs to listen to the views of the community.

A plan to turn a pub into a strip joint was refused in front of a packed town hall chamber this week.

The owners of Satchmo's wanted to host lap dancing at the venue in Stoke Newington Road - but the plans were rejected by Hackney Council's licensing committee.

Up to 100 nutters filled the council chamber to show the strength of feeling against the plans. Campaigner Amanda Frayne said residents and businesses were hugely relieved. An overwhelming majority of people have always believed that this proposal is utterly inappropriate for the area.

Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP, Diane Abbott and Hackney mayor Jules Pipe said the plans were inappropriate for a residential area.

The pub manager Scott Davis said: The club wants to re-invent itself as a modern and stylish cocktail bar offering adult entertainment and exclusive DJs.

Satchmo's has 21 days to appeal.

I am shortly to speak at the UK Network of Sex Worker's Conference which is focusing on “Good Practice”. I thought what better form of good practice than to ask the clients what they would like. I am focusing on brothels because they are the ideal for selling sex.
I am thus asking you to send me your wishes.

Let me give you some background. I started my survey with a population of disabled people, before opening it up to the public.

A TV documentary was made by Asta Philpot for the BBC, to bring attention to the fact that some disabled people need to visit brothels, and he is continuing his campaign by approaching Larry Flint in America, to support his cause.

Encouraged by the impact of our demonstration, and the way members of the House of Lords are recognising the sexual needs of disabled people, I have decided to ask everybody I can reach, precisely what they would really like to have provided for them personally, in a brothel (should they wish).

The Costa Brava brothel in Asta's programme was far from perfect. For a start, they did not cater to women. The sex workers, sweet as they were, looked like lap dancers, young and cosmetically enhanced. The décor was grim: not sexy or glamorous. The brothel also had a lot going for it: a good sexual service, it provided hoists for disabled people to get onto the beds, was clean and well-run and, perhaps best of all, it operated openly, without stigma – a local guy had come up to Asta in a bar and recommended he pop along.

So, please let me know what you would like, from a personal point of view, and any special needs dictated by your personal problems, disability and impairments.

Bear in mind, brothels can cater to many different needs – not just sex. They can be seats (or beds, to be more precise) of learning, anxiety reduction, confidence building, off-loading guilt, shame, sadness and confusion, experimentation, cuddling, touching and lying in bed with someone. They can also be places where you can get beaten shitless, tied up, humiliated, or try a little spanking or torment, cross-dressing, see women in polo-neck jumpers, women popping balloons, and experience your own personal fetish. They can provide sex parties, straight sex, gay sex, and whatever your fantasy dictates. That is why they are rather good.

My dream brothel would be a place where all pleasures are catered for, offering dinner, drinks, dancing, gambling, erotic shows, treatment rooms, a Tantric Temple, chill-out rooms and a cinema as well as bedrooms, a dungeon, fetish rooms. This mix would hopefully take away the stigma and make the brothel acceptable in polite society.

I would base my dream brothel along the lines of a top hotel, as these are the only places on earth where both sex workers and disabled people are treated as respectfully as other guests. Top hotels are very strict about this. Their staff never know when royalty are coming in to have a laugh or politicians are just taking the weight off their feet!

Staff would be trained to communicate with deaf and deaf-blind clients, as well as spinal injured and other disabled people.

I am inspired by the fact that jazz music came out of the brothels of New Orleans and Tango came from the brothels of Argentina. Both forms of music were fusion music, designed to fire people up. Brothels can, if left to run in the spirit of bon amie rather than fear and shame, be centres of cultural influence.

I've never been one to ask for much, have I? But while the topic is being debated on the political agenda, let's state what we want.

Please send me your requests. I will put everything into a document, display it on-line and present it at the conference I'
m speaking at in early June.

Madame Cynthia Payne can open the first brothel, and bring back her luncheon voucher scheme for disabled and pensioners.

Send to me at mail@sfc.org.uk preferably including any details of your personal needs, disabilities and impairments, so I can present your case accordingly.

A group representing Britain's lap-dancing industry will officially launch today with an unexpected demand for the government: it wants stricter licensing rules.

The Lap Dancing Association (LDA), which includes the UK's largest lap-dancing chains, wants local authorities, which license the venues, to be given powers to ensure clubs abide by a code of conduct which addresses issues of minimum standards of public decency and morality which are not required by existing laws. Some members of the LDA will also acknowledge concerns about evidence of prostitution at some clubs.

The creation of the LDA will put ministers in the awkward position of having to defend liberal licensing laws brought in under their 2003 Licensing Act. On licensing, the industry will ask ministers to amend rules so that "adult entertainment" establishments are considered separately from other premises. Under existing rules, lap-dancing venues have the same "one size fits all" licence used by cafes and theatres.

The LDA hopes its "compromise" proposals will see off calls from some MPs for wholesale change in the licensing laws to recategorise lap-dancing venues as "sexual encounter" establishments.

Nutters say an increasing number of MPs are joining their fight to give local authorities greater power over lap-dancing clubs.

Sandrine Leveque, a spokeswoman for the nutters of Object, said efforts were under way to build support for a 10-Minute Rule Bill to be introduced by the Durham MP Roberta Blackman-Woods at the end of May. She said the campaign had the backing of about 35 MPs, a third of the number they are hoping to attract: We have received some really good feedback from local authorities since we drew attention to the loophole. This is a cross-party issue and one which affects men and women of all walks of life. We are hoping to gain support from at least 100 MPs.

An early day motion by Lynda Waltho, MP for Stourbridge, which supports empowering councils to license venues as sex encounter establishments, has gathered 26 signatures from predominantly Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs over the past four days.

Since the first mainstream club, For Your Eyes Only, opened 13 years ago, the number of clubs countrywide has risen to 300, more than doubling in the past four years. Five local authorities which have attempted to block new establishments have been defeated on appeal.

The campaigners want to categorise the clubs as sex encounter establishments, giving local authorities the same power over them as they do with sex shops and cinemas. They are calling for a change in the law to give councils the right to reject applications for pole-dancing venues.

The Lap Dancing Association (LDA) retorted this week that, while it was concerned about the practices of irresponsible operations and potential links with prostitution, classifying clubs as sex encounter establishments would only drive such operators underground. It urged the campaign group to work with it to improve standards, claiming that much of the literature on the subject was inaccurate and sensationalist.

A trade association representing lap dancing clubs has been launched to distance the industry from its sleazy image of drugs and prostitution.

The Lap Dancing Association (LDA) will represent lap, table and pole dancing club operators and provide the sector with a unified voice.

Members of the association include chains such as For Your Eyes Only and Spearmint Rhino as well as independent outlets across the UK.

Simon Warr, president of Spearmint Rhino and chairman of the LDA, said: The establishment of a national trade body is a sign that the sector has come of age. Our industry is made up of many hundreds of independent operators and to date they have lacked a unified voice and forum for sharing best practice. The LDA now provides that.

The LDA also wants to develop minimum standards of best commercial practice through the promotion of a Code of Practice.

Warr added: Operating in accordance with the code will demonstrate a high level of professionalism and show that clubs recognise their responsibility towards their staff, dancers, customers and local community. We want to distance our industry from the sleazy image of drugs and prostitution

Fifteen people arrested as part of an operation targeting brothels operating via the internet in central London are still being questioned by police. The arrests were made when more than 100 officers searched 19 premises.

Police suspect that those arrested are part of a criminal network involved in prostitution and people-trafficking. It is alleged the network operates by trafficking women from abroad, the majority from Thailand, and then coercing them to work as prostitutes.

Up to 110 officers are involved in Operation Gib, led by the Metropolitan Police with support from Surrey Constabulary and Norfolk Constabulary.

Police believe criminals have been using an internet escort agency as a front for prostitution. It is believed that the network, which police have been monitoring for about four months, has been running the women on their own but also acting on behalf of other pimps selling on their women, police have said.

Police said they hoped to rescue an estimated 60 foreign women who they believe had been forced into prostitution. 30 women had been taken to a specialist centre staffed with interpreters, health workers and officers trained in sexual offences interview techniques.

Ch Supt Ian Dyson from the Metropolitan Police said: What we can say is the exploitation takes a variety of forms and while there may be no evidence that might emerge of physical violence being used, what is clear, and we are certain of, is that there's been a significant financial exploitation of all the women involved in this case.

A Met spokesman said three men aged 31, 32, and 25 and one women aged 35 had been arrested on suspicion of trafficking into and within the UK, controlling prostitution for gain and money laundering offences. Another 11 people were arrested at addresses in central London in connection with trafficking within the UK and controlling prostitution.

Update: Six Thais Arrested

22nd April 2008

Five men and four women have been charged with people trafficking offences, police said. At least six are Thai nationals. All are charged with conspiracy to traffic women within the UK for sexual exploitation, conspiracy to control prostitution and money laundering.

Update: Extradition

23rd April 2008

Thailand will seek the extradition of Thais arrested in Britain for alleged involvement in human trafficking-related offences, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Tarit Charungvat. He said the Thai embassy in London is coordinating with British police to verify the nationalities of the 15 arrested people who are believed to be Thai.

27 - 28 July at the NEC, Birmingham

The ETO Show is the UK's only dedicated adult industry event. Bringing together manufacturers and distributors from all sides of the industry - including film, lingerie, toys and consumables - with all the key trade buyers, the ETO Show is free to attend for trade professionals.

Taking place on the evening of the first day of the ETO Show, the black tie Awards Dinner has become a must-attend event for networking with the leading players of the adult industry. The awards are voted for by readers of ETO and have become known as the most prestigious in the industry.

Nutters are launching a mean minded campaign to get licensing laws changed to give local councils more option to ban lap dancing.

Object are launching a campaign on Tuesday April 22nd, 12-1pm at the House of Commons, London followed at 1-3.30pm by protest in Parliament Square.

The campaign calls for lap dancing clubs to be recognised as part of the commercial sex industry and licensed as Sex Encounter Establishments, rather than in the same way as pubs, cafes or karaoke nights as they currently are.

Speakers at the launch will include:

• Baroness Gould
• Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods MP
• Gill Mitchell Brighton and Hove City Councillor,
• Julie Bindel researcher and journalist
• Kat Banyard Fawcett Society
• Professor Marion Roberts Westminster University

Nutters have vowed to fight on in their battle to stop a lap-dancing club in Durham.

South Tyneside-based Vimac Leisure has appealed to the High Court over a decision by magistrates to block its application for a lap-dancing licence for The Loft club in North Road Durham.

Nutters living close to the club have now submitted their evidence against the plans and have vowed to fight until we reach the final tape, even though they could face a massive legal bill if they lose.

Resident Kirsty Thomas said a High Court ruling on the Vimac Leisure appeal could have implications for lap- dancing clubs across Britain: Durham was the first case where residents successfully opposed a licence, yet the 2003 Licensing Act was supposed to consider the wishes of the public. We have submitted our arguments to the High Court, which will decide whether they think Vimac has any grounds for appeal.

Durham City Council's licensing committee initially granted Vimac a licence last August but residents, supported by Durham MP Roberta Blackman-Woods, successfully appealed against the decision.

Plans to open a pole dancing club in Ayr are set to go before council planners for the fourth time.

Businessman Forbes Robertson wants to offer the adult entertainment at his Millionayr club in River Street.

His plans have already been knocked back by council's licensing board twice before in July last year and January this year. And the entrepreneur withdrew his application from another meeting because he felt he wouldn't get a fair hearing.

Robertson wants to stage one off cabaret events with food, casino games and pole and burlesque dancers. I'm trying to offer something a bit different in the town, maybe its not everybody cup of tea but then they don't need to go.

Last time board chairman Douglas Campbell told him the application fell short of council guidelines. And the final say will rest with councillors on Thursday April 17.

Er... Surely they don't mean a right tit?

Sexism is said to be rife in the City and tough action is required to stamp out discrimination against women, the Fawcett Society warns today. The group campaigns for women's rights and is concentrating on sexual harassment at work.

Kat Banyard, campaigns director highlights the use of lap dancing clubs for corporate entertainment, a practice that excludes many women who feel uncomfortable visiting these clubs with clients.

The society wants the licensing regime to be changed with lap dancing clubs treated as sex establishments rather than pubs and clubs so local authorities can place greater restrictions on them.

If you've got male colleagues entertaining at a lap dancing club, it puts women in a very difficult position, she said.

Worthing's self-appointed moral guardian Steve Stevens forced the council's licensing sub-committee to close its meeting to the public after shouting out from the public gallery. Stevens was escorted from the meeting by two security guards.

The 89-year-old war veteran and nutter submitted a 600 signature petition to the council against plans for erotic dancing at the Liquid Lounge in Chatsworth Road.

The prospect of fully-nude men and women had helped fuel nutters, but the club's general manager James Lanz told the Herald: One of the conditions we have agreed does state that genitalia will be covered at all times.

Sussex Police withdrew its representation to the committee after the club agreed to several conditions.

• No audience participation, and no physical contact between customers and the dancer during or after the performance.
• No person under 18 be allowed on the premises while striptease/lap dancing is taking place, and clear warning notices be displayed at entrances.
• All dancers/performers must be aged at least 18 and legally entitled to work at the club.
• That performances of pole dancing/lap dancing end by 3.30am.

Objections to the application included a letter from Mark Weeden, pastor at The Worthing Tabernacle who ludicrously belittles his fellow man: Married men stirred up in this way are more likely to batter their wives, push them to 'perform' as the strippers did, or to commit adultery. Allowing lap-dancing will mean an increase in prostitution, whether with the dancers themselves, or prostitutes in surrounding areas.

Update: Open

Liquid Lounge opened on 1st July 2008

If ever you hear of British people  enjoying themselves, let us know, and we will put a stop to it

The politician in charge of Britain's licensing regime has announced he will review legislation which has opened the door to a string of fully nude lap-dancing clubs in Brighton and Hove.

Gerry Sutcliffe, the Minister responsible for licensing, told parliament he was concerned about the situation in the city and promised to consult with ministerial colleagues over a permanent change to the law.

He made the comments following a meeting with Hove MP Celia Barlow and city councillor Gill Mitchell to discuss supposed problems with the licensing act which has left nutters of Brighton and Hove City Council virtually powerless to stop clubs opening.

He said: We continue to review what can be done. We have made the right move in delegating the matter to local government, because it is right that local councillors and local government have the right to determine what goes on in their area. It is important that we look at the planning process and its objectives, and I am particularly concerned to hear that in Brighton, six lap-dancing clubs have been established in a very short time.

That problem will start to spread throughout the country, so I appreciate my honourable friend raising the matter. I will be happy to meet colleagues again to consider what can be done to ensure that [SOME!] local people get what they want in their local area.

Since the new licensing regime was introduced in November 2005, six clubs have been granted licenses for fully-nude dancing, although only four currently put on lap-dancing. Until that point only two operated in the city and nudity was not allowed.

Spearmint Rhino added to its international empire by opening the first fully nude club on East Street last year. The licence was approved by magistrates on appeal, overturning the council's initial rejection. Magistrates ruled that police could not establish the link between strip clubs and disorder and threw out the council's decision not to grant the East Street venue a licence.

Ms Barlow and the mean minded David Lepper, MP for Brighton Pavilion, both raised the supposed problem during a parliamentary debate on Wednesday.

She said: I am extremely encouraged by the minister's announcement. The current licensing act is wholly ineffective when it comes to regulating lap dancing clubs. These clubs have sprung up in the hearts of our communities, and I also welcome the announcement to contact local authorities over what more can be done under the current law to prevent these clubs from opening.

A whole town will "burn in hell" if it allows lap dancing at a nightclub according to veteran anti-porn nutter Steve Stevens, 89. He said Worthing will be eternally damned if it allows the Liquid Lounge nightclub to put on nude and semi-nude shows.

And the town's brush with Beelzebub could come sooner rather than later, with a committee of politicians due to decide whether to give the go-ahead to the plan later this month.

The pensioner has now started a petition against the club's plans and says he has secured more than 300 signatures on it.

Liquid Lounge, which has run regular club nights at its four room venue for years, wants to put on the lap dancing and stripping shows for members only.

General manager James Lanz said the nights would be tasteful and fully policed by security staff. He said: We are aiming at the Adonis cabaret-style show for ladies and tasteful nude and semi-nude dancers for men. This has worked very well, trouble-free, in many other towns. This will, of course, be run very strictly for members only and for over-18s, or possibly over-21s.

The club has applied to run the lap dancing nights in its ground floor Le Chic room. It would be Worthing's first ever lap dancing club.

Sussex Police officers have said they would only be able to object if it was shown that disorder could result from the lap dancing nights. But licensing officer PC Mike Webb added that the force was not a "moral guardian" of the town.

Worthing Borough Council's licensing committee is due to decide whether to allow the lap dancing at a meeting on March 27.

A Blackpool lap-dancing club has been fined £14,000 after admitting breaching its licence by allowing supposedly indecent acts between performers.

One dancer who performed at Wildcats on Clifton Street told a police officer that there were "no limits" to what went on.

Blackpool Magistrates Court was told that when police visited the club they saw extensive physical touching between two female dancers, one of whom they later talked to.

Vicki Cartmell, prosecuting on behalf of Blackpool Council, said the dancer told an officer: No, there are no limits about what we can do, we can do what we want.

The club's owner Provocative Leisure of King Street, Leeds, admitted the offence. It was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay £415 costs.

Solicitor Tracy Langfield said: The club faces the suspension of its licence for four weeks and that could lose £40,000 in revenue and affect the jobs of 40 dancers and 13 door and bar staff. This club has a new manager and the police and council say there are no problems now.

A council licensing panel suspended the venue's licence for four weeks last month but it has appealed meaning it can remain open until the appeal is decided.

Nude dancers could be introduced at an East Devon nightclub if a licensing application for a strip bar gets the go-ahead.

The Q Club in Manchester Street, Exmouth, has applied for music and alcohol licences for a VIP lounge, where entertainment would include lap dancing, pole dancing and striptease.

The news has received mixed reactions from residents but the town's Mayor Joy Whipps was appalled at the idea.

Conditions will require CCTV to be installed and dictate that performers must be older than 18 and there shall be no physical contact with customers.

Ms Whipps said the club could encourage promiscuity and for people to look upon women as sex objects: It is encouraging promiscuous behaviour which I can't support. I want Exmouth to be seen as a quality place to live and visit. It creates a recreational approach to sex which is wrong and we should be respecting young women and not exploiting them as sex objects.

Cllr Whipps continued: I have looked through the application which they have submitted and they have quite a few conditions such as to provide protection of performers and to stop the corruption of young people.

But I don't think it is good for the reputation of the town.

Submit support or opposition with either East Devon District Council, the police, trading standards or environmental health before the March 13 deadline.

Update: Q on Cue

28th April 2008

Exmouth's first-ever strip bar will open after The Q Club was this week given the go-ahead to stage lap dancing and 'other adult entertainment'.

The Q Club, in Manchester Street, was given the licence by district councillors - despite pleas from residents and businesses.

It entitles licence holders Paul and Kimberly Kortland to host lap dancing, pole dancing and striptease within a VIP lounge.

The Kortlands have imposed their own conditions, including CCTV, a midnight licence, door staff, and a register of addresses for all members - and a minimum age of dancers of 18.

Plans to create Shrewsbury’s first lap dancing club have been ditched after bosses behind the scheme decided to put the site up for sale.

Gemini Games Ltd, based in Telford, won a planning appeal in December to turn the upper two floors of Central Hall, in Castle Gates, into an exotic dancing club featuring semi-naked, nude pole and lap dances.

The bottom floor has planning permission for a cafe or restaurant. But the owners have now given up on the idea and will instead offer the property for sale.

The decision was today welcomed by Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski. He said: I am absolutely delighted that this company will not be proceeding with this. We have won this one because it’s just not on, frankly, having a lap dancing club in Shrewsbury.

Police have welcomed Torbay Council's decision to reject plans for a lap dancing club.

The licence variation would have allowed lap dancing and striptease entertainment provided by male or female artists until 4am every day. But the council turned down Kingswood Property Management's application for a variation of licence at Vaults Restaurant on Victoria Parade, Torquay.

Police said the late-night licence would contribute to crime and disorder in an area of Torquay known for its high incidents of trouble.

However, at yesterday's meeting of the council's licensing sub-committee, Kingswood Property Management said the application met all the licensing objectives laid out by council officers.

Included in the licence application were regulations stating that 'there would be no physical contact between performers and customers, except for the placing of a tip in the garter (females) or armband (males)'.

Speaking on Kingswood Property Management's behalf, solicitor Rob Newman said: Lap dancing is a form of performance dance. There are some people who might object, but this committee here isn't dealing with morals.

The operators operate good premises. There's no reason why a late-night licence should lead to crime and disorder. This isn't intended to be a large operation. The application is for a maximum of 150 people, but in reality my client is looking at a maximum of 100 - and they won't all be there at the same time. Customers will be controlled going in, while they're in there and when they are going out. This will be one of the most controlled places in Torbay.

The application was debated for more than two hours before councillors finally decided to refuse the licence application.

Brett Sinclair, managing director for Kingswood Property Management, said there was a chance he would appeal against the decision.

Police have slammed plans for a new lap dancing bar on Torquay harbourside, supposedly fearing it will stretch resources and encourage anti-social behaviour in the drinking hotspot.

The new owner of Vaults restaurant on Victoria Parade has applied to vary its premises licence to allow lap dancing and striptease entertainment provided by male or female artists until 4am every day.

He pledges it will be a classy establishment, decorated and run in the same manner as Play nightclub which he also owns and which has attracted praise from the authorities.

The police have objected to the Vaults application, predicting it will impact on crime and disorder. Chief Supt Jo Tennant, commander of the Devon Basic Command Unit, said research 'clearly' indicates a substantial reduction in anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder, particularly assaults, damage and drunkenness around the pubs and clubs at that end of town.

Tennant added: I have great concerns that should this later licence be permitted, the success achieved to date will be reversed, with increased crime and disorder and anti-social behaviour in the area, which in turn would stretch police resources and affect policing in other parts of Torbay.

The opening of the lap dancing venue would also undermine the licensing objectives of preventing public nuisance and protecting children from harm, she said.

Mr Ireland, who bought the restaurant a few months ago, successfully applied for a new licence and is now seeking to introduce live music and adult entertainment. Ireland said they have consulted with all authorities before lodging the new application, which he says meets all the licensing objectives. He said a strict set of rules will be on display at tables and on the door, to coincide with strict entry, age and drink policies.

Three members of the public have written letters of objection to the council. One said Play has so far been excellent with no trouble at all to my knowledge. However, a second club with dancers would only degrade this part of the town. I believe we should be cleaning up Torbay with a welcoming family environment, not strippers.

The council's Environmental Protection team have suggested conditions to control the noise levels. A number of controls have been put forward by the Safeguarding Unit to protect children from harm.

Blackpool's massage parlours are the latest target in a drive to rid the resort of fun.

Police and trading standards officers targeted five parlours, two of which have been closed, after reports they were being used as brothels.

The Gazette understands two foreign nationals were among the suspected call girls working there. No suggestion of 'trafficking' though otherwise it would be reported big time.

The venues targeted were in Caunce Street and Church Street in the town centre.

Tim Coglan, head of SubStandards at Blackpool Council, said: This was an operation between ourselves and the police, targeting all forms of illegality in the massage parlour sector.

"These were massage parlours reported to be a front for prostitution. There were also other related alleged offences in connection with book-keeping, smoking on premises and health and safety breaches.

As a result investigations are ongoing with a view to instigating proceedings. Two premises have had health and safety prohibition notices issued and have been closed down and a number voluntarily closed.

Up to four girls were found to be selling sex at some of the premises in breach of strict regulations. Currently only one prostitute can legally offer paid sex.

The health and safety breaches were due to electrical faults.

Blackpool Council leader, Coun Peter Callow, said the crackdown was the latest stage of the council's campaign to clean up the town. He said: These massage parlours have been operating for a long time on the main thoroughfare with brightly lit signs, and people find this offensive.

A prospective MP has called for the public to oppose plans for a lap dancing club at a prominent site overlooking the River Tees.

An application has been made for a licence at the Moby Grape pub by Stockton's Riverside.

Alex Cunningham, nutter and prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for Stockton North, said: Millions of pounds have been and are being invested in our town centre, Riverside and Cultural Quarter which are attracting families, couples and young people from all over the place keen to visit the area and enjoy themselves here. Moral arguments apart, and there are plenty to oppose this application, The Moby Grape has one of Stockton's prime locations.

The local authority and developers have created one of the most attractive developed areas in the Tees Valley and no-one I have spoken to no-one who would support the opening of such a place. It can only be damaging to the area and has the potential of driving future investment away.

He said the pub was applying to open from 11am to 4am every day of the week. Cunningham added: I hope that local people, businesses and other organisations will join forces to oppose this proposal and ensure it never gets beyond the application stage.

Blackpool's Young People's Council were angry that an adult entertainment venue was set to launch in the basement of the Clifton Hotel, which is currently being revamped.

But now the owners of the historic building, which is being transformed into bars and a nightclub, have decided to ditch the plan for a lap-dancing attraction.

Coun Maxine Callow, cabinet member for regeneration and tourism on Blackpool Council, said: I'm delighted with this outcome because this is the message we're wanting to send out that Blackpool is changing. We're changing our profile and want to change the profile of our visitors.

Gary Hunt, chief operating officer at the Barnsley-based Brook Group, which owns
the Clifton, said the company wanted to work with Blackpool to boost its image.

He said: As part of the ongoing discussions with the senior council officials, we have considered our proposals to open a lap dancing bar within a basement area to the rear of the Clifton Hotel.

Although planning and licensing has been approved, the council have highlighted that their vision for Blackpool was to try to improve its image and in line with this they didn't believe that the lap-dancing proposal was ideal for such a grand scheme.

We've therefore considered their views and eventually taken the decision to surrender the lap-dancing consent to try to assist with the council's vision. The regeneration of Blackpool as a whole is a very important factor for us and our aim is to try to assist as much as possible.

A blackpool lap-dancing club could be shut down amid exaggerated allegations of live sex shows being performed.

Wildcats, in Clifton Street, is set to be questioned by the council on February 4 after being accused of breaching its licence by allowing contact between customers and dancers.

CCTV images from the club, formerly known as Too Hot To Handle, show two female dancers performing a sexy show watched by two men.

Wildcats is alleged to have broken the terms of its licence by offering lap-dancing without CCTV cameras covering the main performance areas. Entertainment is said to have taken place in private booths, where physical contact was observed between performers and customers.

The club is also alleged to have breached its licence by allowing an offensive billboard sign, advertising the premises, to be paraded through the town centre.

Among the penalties the club could face is the possibility of having its licence revoked or suspended.

Blackpool Council's licensing committee voted in favour of repressive new restrictions on the number of adult entertainment venues allowed to open in the town centre and the Promenade.

It means in future, new lap-dancing clubs will be banned unless they can prove they will not harm the family-orientated tourist trade.

Council leader Coun Peter Callow said he was determined to sweep away sleaze and restore Blackpool's family image [as a continuous strip of fish and chip shops!].

This new policy on new lap dancing and striptease clubs has been passed by Blackpool Council with all party support. The policy, which was introduced by nutter council leader Peter Callow and seems to dubiously put morality above the law of the land.

About 100 people turned out in Stoneham Park in Hove to show their opposition to a bid by the Portland Hotel in Portland Road to host strip shows until 4am.

Green city councillor and prospective Parliamentary candidate Ian Davey welcomed the turnout: It just shows the real strength of feeling in the local community against these ridiculous and outrageous proposals.

Coun Davey said: Our message to the committee is, 'just say no'.

He said more than 60 people had written letters of objection and a 150-signature petition has been handed to the council.

The Portland's landlord has defended the bid, explaining he wants the new licence to allow smokers outside later and that exotic dancing events would not be held regularly, if at all.

Brighton and Hove City Council's licensing panel met on 17th January to determine the application.

From a weekly legal dilemma column:

I am the HR manager of a large accountancy firm. We have discovered that a member of the team is going to a lap-dancing club during his lunch time. He is never back late, but some of the women in the firm find this type of behaviour upsetting. Can we stop him?

The fact that an employee attends a lap-dancing club during his lunch break or at any other time outside of working hours will not generally give grounds upon which you could take disciplinary action.

It may be different if it could be shown that it had some negative impact on the business. If he attends the establishment wearing a uniform that clearly identified the firm where he works, there may be an issue as to whether he could be bringing the name of the business into disrepute. However, this would be unlikely with a member of an accountancy team.

It may be better to treat this as a disagreement between staff. As with any dispute between colleagues, you should take all reasonable steps to resolve the matter. It may be the case that once they have had the opportunity to address the matter with a third party, then the differences can be resolved. If this cannot be done informally, then you would need to implement the firm's formal grievance procedure.

Ultimately, if the objections from the other employees continue to such an extent that they refuse to work with the employee, and he refuses to stop going to the lap-dancing club, you may have grounds to dismiss him due to the disruption the issue is causing in the workplace. However, you should remember that a decision to dismiss should only be taken as a last resort.

Secrets lap-dancing clubs has caused predictable nutter upset with plans to open a branch in Holborn.

Secrets, which has venues in Euston and Finchley Road, is asking for a 4am licence at its new club in Parker Street.
Licensing chiefs will decide on 9th January whether it can open and for how long into the evening the stripteases can go on for.

Nutters in the area have been writing to the  council’s licensing department with objections.

Police have also warned councillors to be aware of complaints of late-night disturbances in the street, which is already home to Parkers table-dancing club and nightclubs Sway, Browns, New Connaught Rooms, Guanabara and Bada Bling.

David Kaner, from the Covent Garden Community Association, has asked the council to take steps to protect pupils attending the nearby St Joseph’s Primary School in Macklin Street.
He said: This should include a prohibition against any advertising on the outside of the premises suggesting the activities available inside them (for example, photos of scantily clad males or females).

George Gallagher, chairman of Holland and Thurston Residents’ Association, said his members totally opposed the application “in all areas” fearing that small children might potentially witness lewd, drunken and violent behaviour. He added: The proposed lap dancing club would impact considerably on mothers, and other local women may also be harassed by sexually frustrated male clients leaving the club intoxicated.

Paul Taffe, who lives nearby, said in his letter of objection: Public sexual intercourse, violence, threatening behaviour, noise, car horns blaring all hours of the night, drunks of both sexes urinating and defecating outside our homes, vomiting, drug dealing and a general sense of menace after dark, and now you want to put more of the same on our doorstep.

In its application, Secrets guaranteed that audience members would not be permitted to participate in the performances, which would not include simulated sexual activity between the performers who would entertain no physical contact with the customers.

The club said it will provide that registered bouncers would supervise entrances and exits, rules of appropriate conduct would be displayed and a crime prevention strategy would be devised in collaboration with the police.