Lap Dancing in Henley

Diamonds and Pearls, a venue promising lapdancing and fun, is set to open this weekend in a Henley-on-Thames building once used for ballroom dancing.   

The move has angered nutter councillors including the local mayor, amid ludicrous suggestions that it could turn the area into a rural Soho.

The local licensing authority, South Oxfordshire District Council, said it had no choice but to grant a licence for the venue, including permission for adult entertainment as the building, a former nightclub, had previously held a late night entertainment licence.

But members of the town council, including Gill Zakss, the mayor, insist the venue is not suitable for Henley: As a child I went to ballroom dancing in that building and I expect my teachers would be turning in their graves. I am hugely surprised. I can't believe there is a big enough catchment area, have they done their market research? I'm not one of the Mary Whitehouse brigade...BUT...I don't think it'll attract enough customers. I think in this current economic climate it will close down shortly.

Joan Bland, a fellow member of the town council, added: This is Henley, not Soho. I don't think it is befitting of Henley, we are country folk living in an historic market town and it seems very unnecessary. I expect the majority of people who will go in there will not be from the town because residents just won't use it.

But the owner Manowar Hussain, a businessman from nearby Maidenhead, Berks, dismissed the fears and said the club would make a positive contribution to the town: We are not here to wreck people's lives, we are here to provide entertainment and a bit of fun and give something back to the town. We are not going to have ladies standing outside. It is not immoral, it is a business venture.

A spokeswoman for South Oxfordshire District Council said residents had not objected during the consultation period before the licence was granted.

Update: Last Minute Change of Heart

29th January 2009. See article from news.bbc.co.uk

Diamonds and Pearls was to have opened on Saturday. The club had been given a licence by South Oxfordshire District Council, but businessman Manowar Hussain said the plans were now on hold.

Henley Town councillor Dr Barry Wood had set up a group in an attempt to close the venue. He was organising a rally for next weekend and started a petition opposing the establishment. He said: It is fantastic news. There is room for clubs and so on, but not in the centre of Henley.

Hussain, who planned to open the club, told the BBC he had surrendered his licence to another business. He revealed both floors of the building will now be used instead by Latinos nightclub, which used to be elsewhere in the town.

Update: Hussain Explains Last Minute Change of Heart

31st January 2009. See article from maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk

A strip club venture has ground to a halt after a Maidenhead businessman pulled the plug on his investment.

Manowar Hussain said that his name has been dragged through the mud after initially bankrolling the lap dancing venue in Henley-on-Thames, which roused anger among some residents in the town.

The owner of the basement venue, which was expected to open as the Diamonds and Pearls strip club on Saturday, maintains that it was not his decision to mould the nightspot into a lap dancing club, after investing about ฃ250,000 in the project.

Hussain said that he now wants nothing to do with the venue as he looks to sell it on. He admits he regrets getting involved after buying the business last year.

It’s not a moral thing, he said of stripping. I’m a family man and a Muslim and so I have taken my investment out.

Despite unlikely last minute shenanigans, lap dancing has arrived in Henley.

Diamonds and Pearls in the Greys Road car park held its first night lattended by scores of people.

The surprise opening happened after owner Manowar Hussain pulled out of the venture, blaming negative publicity and pressure from his family. He said: I have sold the lease of the building to somebody else and that is it.

In fact, his share in the business was bought by Andy Mags. Diamonds and Pearls opened with Mags claiming he didn't want to let people down.

The club will be open Monday to Saturday, from 8pm until 2am. There is an entry charge of £10. Mags promised around 10 girls a night, who come from all over the place and said lap dances would cost £20 a time.

The news has reignited plans for a demonstration in Henley, organised by nutter councillor Barry Wood. The demonstration will take place on Saturday, February 14, starting in Market Place at 11am.

Wood said: We have all been misled by Mr Hussain, who stated to several sources that they definitely would not proceed. He claimed these clubs fuel a sexist male culture of treating women as sex objects and inferior citizens.

Wood, a former town mayor, has admitted visiting strip clubs himself but says Henley is not the place for one.

The prudish Wood has also formed a residents' action group (RAG) to try to persuade South Oxfordshire District Council to reverse its decision to grant the club an adult entertainment licence. He said: RAG is definitely not a morality group, nor are we Mary Whitehouse clones...HOWEVER...we are deadly serious that Henley is not the place for a strip club.

A Henley club owner has ended non-alcoholic events for teenagers after facing nutter criticism about sexualisation of children.

The rants came about because the venue for the Valentines Day party was above a lap dancing club (which was closed at the time).

The event for 15-18-year-olds was held at Latino's, which is above the Diamonds and Pearls club in Greys Road car park. More than 100 teenagers, mostly girls, attended.

Last week, Elsa Torres, deputy headteacher of Gillotts School in Henley, criticised the party, saying: While I think it is a good thing for teenagers to have the chance to go to venues and enjoy themselves, they should be in more respectful places than above a pole dancing club.

Town councillor Barry Wood, who has campaigned to have Diamonds and Pearls closed down, said: The whole thing is contaminating our children, who are being exposed to the seamier side of life. This party just further intensifies my opposition to that place. The sooner we get rid of it the better. In four months' time, the club's licence comes up for review and it is going to argue that it is being used by the community. The club is trying to integrate itself into the community and that's wrong.

Club owner Leno Borg said he was disappointed at the criticism: They didn't even come to check what the party was like, he said. It went very well and there were no problems. The children just want to come and enjoy themselves.

More than 100 crimes have been reported at Diamonds and Pearls since it opened in 2009. Now Thames Valley Police have applied to have the licence revoked.

Latino's nightclub, which is in the same building in Greys Road car park, is governed by the same licence. If South Oxfordshire District Council's licensing panel approves the police request, both clubs would be forced to shut.

Henley police launched an investigation because of the large number of reported crimes at the premises, including eighteen assaults, 11 causing actual bodily harm, nine drug offences, 12 incidents of fraud, six thefts, one affray and a rape.

Inspector Stewart Haveron, who is leading the investigation, said: Because of the large number of incidents, we have found it necessary to apply for a review of the licence. The measures put in place to prevent crime on the site are not effective and so the licence needs to be reviewed.

Town councillor Barry Wood, who has campaigned to have Diamonds and Pearls closed down, said: This is absolutely brilliant and I applaud the police. I am surprised at the high level of crime but research shows that the amount of crime within one km of these establishments is increased. The only sort of pole dancing I want in Henley is around a Maypole.

Henley's lapdancing club is set to close after being stripped of its licence. South Oxfordshire District Council's licensing panel agreed to revoke the licence in response to an application by Thames Valley Police.

The owners have until next month to appeal during which time the clubs can remain open.

The panel was told that the police had found evidence of licence breaches, including: Drug taking on the premises; Prostitution; Assaults by members of staff on customers; and Operating out of hours.

Laura Morris, licensing officer for Thames Valley Police, said: There have been 106 incidents at the premises since it opened and the force is concerned that just over 40 per cent of assaults have involved staff and the majority were after 2am. There has been an alarming number of reports of credit card fraud. Those who have reported it to the management have been refunded but it does beg the question what has happened to those who didn't.

Leno Borg, owner of Latino’s nightclub at the same premises, said: The club is not a trouble spot in itself. 106 incidents to the novice reader is alarming and a source of complaint but if one delves deeper, aggrieved customers who think they were charged too much or simply want to do damage to a sound business can make a complaint and it is logged but it may be completely bogus.

A councillor who has campaigned to have Diamonds and Pearls shut down is claiming victory. Barry Wood claimed the club would increase crime and disorder in Henley and after this week's licensing panel hearing he said: I told you so.

He added: Henley is a welcoming and tolerant town...BUT...it is important that our night-time economy conforms to our ethos, is well regulated and is effectively managed. We do not want any sections of our community threatened by crime or even the perception of crime, even if it is as a result of people supposedly enjoying themselves.

Update: Appeal

11th June 2011.  See article from henleystandard.co.uk

Andy Mags, owner of Diamonds and Pearls, and Leno Borg, owner of Latinos nightclub, which shares the building and is covered by the same licence, have lodged an appeal, meaning the clubs can remain open until it is heard.

The hearing will take place at Oxford Magistrates Court.

Update: Appeal Date

8th September 2011.  See article from henleystandard.co.uk

AN appeal by owners of Henley's lap-dancing club against the loss of its licence will be heard in December.

Update: Compromise

17th September 2011.  See article from henleystandard.co.uk

The owners have offered to shut Diamonds and Pearls in Greys Road car park if they are allowed to run a nightclub and wine bar in the building instead.

A lap dance club whose opening offended 'snooty neighbours' in Henley on Thames is to become a jazz club.

Diamonds and Pearls, which opened to nutter protest from residents, church groups, and town councillors, was shut by the police in March. Police reported 106 criminal offences there in under two years.

Owners Leno Borg and Andy Mags had appealed against the closure but this week announced that they had sold the venue to a new owner who will open the first floor as a jazz club, and convert the downstairs into a champagne bar.

Mags, meanwhile, claimed the club had only closed because it had been unfairly targeted by snooty neighhours. He added: I believe that it was just a few people who didn't want the club there. It is a political thing. The club itself didn't draw criminals, it drew the opposite. A lot of the incidents didn't deal directly with the club.