Lap Dancing in Cornwall

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.

A lap dancing bar is commendably allowing its dancers to have physical contact with their customers.

Divas Lap Dancing Bar, in Gover Lane, is using the ambiguous terms of their premises licence to allow contact between dancers and customers to continue.

The club was slapped with repressive operating conditions at a court hearing earlier this month - including the three foot rule, which prevents dancers from going within 36 inches of their clientele.

However, these terms only require the three foot distance to be maintained during a private performance, it has been discovered. Divas owner Alan Whitehead: The three foot rule only applies during a private performance and not in the rest of the club. When the girls are not doing a private performance they are free to go and sit on a guy's lap - they are not breaking any rules.

The hearing at Liskeard Magistrates' Court in September saw Divas and their legal team lose out to Cornwall Council. The court appeal hearing had taken 11 months to get to court, after Restormel Borough Council originally imposed new conditions on the club, following a review.

Despite volunteering 12 operating conditions, Divas disputed the three foot rule , which stated: There shall be no physical contact between the customer and dancer during their performance. Divas argued at the hearing that clubs which operate under the three foot rule usually fail.

In a statement, Cornwall Council confirmed that Divas were operating within the law. The council were informed by the solicitor acting for Divas that they had obtained legal advice relating to the condition that was upheld by the court. It is true that the condition does require that during the performance the performer will keep a minimum distance of three feet away from the customer. It was suggested that this is expressly limited to during the performance .

The Council has also obtained its own independent legal advice in response to this suggestion. Having sought advice, the council agrees that the three foot rule only applies during the performances.

The Police have been advised of this position and if they are of the opinion that the operation of the premises is undermining the licensing objectives then there is provision in the Licensing Act 2003 to apply for a review of the licence.

A Newquay lap dancing bar can no longer provide nude adult entertainment, following a review of its licence by Cornwall Council and town police.

The review into the licence of Divas Lap Dancing Club, on Gover Lane, heard how the club had broken rules on a number of occasions, including the employment of a 17-year-old girl as a dancer, the flagrant breaking of the three-foot rule as well as extremely positive tests for cocaine being used in the club's toilets.

In the meeting, which lasted more than six hours, police showed footage taken from an officer's head-cam and questioned one of the club's licence holders about the rule breaking.

The club has 21 days to meet the new rules, but could choose to appeal against the decision. Should an appeal be lodged, the club will be able to continue as a lap dancing club until a decision has been reached.

The news comes just months after Divas had the three-foot rule – where dancers were not allowed to go within three feet of customers - imposed on it by Liskeard Magistrates Court.

Halos Gentlemen's Club in Newquay has been told it must stop its lap dancing after breaking miserable council rules.

Cornwall Council refused to renew an adult entertainment licence after complaints that dancers were getting closer than the 3ft (1m) allowed.

The club's owner said he was considering an appeal. In the meantime he planned to continue trading as an ordinary nightclub.

Denise Mutton, chairman of the licensing sub-committee, who saw CCTV footage of the lap dancers, said: We saw several incidents of dancers crossing the line over a two day period.

A Newquay lap-dancing bar has become the first in Cornwall to gain a new licence to provide sexual entertainment. Wild Cherry, on Beach Road, was granted a new Sexual Entertainment Venue  licence by Cornwall Council's Miscellaneous Licensing Committee.

However, the decision has prompted an angry response by nutters, who are opposed to the lap-dancing industry in their town. Wild Cherry's licence application received 81 letters of objection from the public.

Newquay police were also against the application, stating that the Koola Bar, which is part of Wild Cherry and the Chy Bar, failed a test purchase when bouncers allowed a 15- and 16-year-old in and allowed them to buy two bottles of beer. Police claimed that this was demonstrative of poor management. Police also objected to the application on unlikely grounds of crime and disorder as well as cliched 'inappropriate' location.

Lyndon Harrison, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Leisure and Tourism, supported the application: This type of business is absolutely necessary for Newquay to be able to compete with other towns and cities around the country.

Nutters are now demanding answers from Cornwall Council and questioning the procedure used in awarding the licence. Dave Sleeman, chairman of Newquay Town Residents' Association, has written to the council's chief executive Kevin Lavery and its leader Alec Robertson declaring the committee not fit for purpose.

Wild Cherry's adult entertainment licence will come into force on January 1, 2012, and allow it to open from 10pm to 4am between Thursday and Saturday.