Table Dancing in Edinburgh

Club Rouge claims to be the only lap-dancing bar in the city that does not require its dancers to fully undress and has made efforts to diversify into non-adult entertainment offerings over the last 18 months.

A spokesman said the club had stopped full strip teases since August and it was now a venue where couples can go and where businessmen can take their clients . The club has expanded into burlesque, cabaret, and life art classes.

At a licensing hearing, club bosses pleaded to be allowed a 3am drinking permit, arguing its entertainment base had widened beyond exotic dancing and should not be confined to the standard 1am closing policy in place for Edinburgh strip clubs.

However, licensing chiefs were unconvinced by the argument and turned down the application.

Managers of Club Rouge in Lothian Road, Edinburgh, confirmed it had closed and would make way for Innis and Gunn's Beer Kitchen bar. Directors said their treatment by police made it impossible to continue operating.

But police said they had acted on clear evidence that the bar's licence conditions were being breached, but did not really provide enough details to be very convincing. A police spokeswoman said:

The licensee in this case took the decision to evict his tenant. This came after licensing officers identified numerous offences at the premises and brought them to the attention of the licensee.

A spokesman for the club said:

We'r e quite upset we had to close it. To be honest, we feel that we were forced out. We had the pressure from the local police. The trigger was constant visits. Harassment would be a word [to describe the situation].

Club Rouge recently claimed to be the only lap-dancing bar in the city that does not require its dancers to fully undress and has made efforts to diversify into non-adult entertainment offerings over the last 18 months. A spokesman said the club had stopped full strip teases since August and it was now a venue where couples can go and where businessmen can take their clients .

Perhaps the closure also had something to do with the selected niche not proving popular.