UK Lap Dancing and Strip Clubs Latest

Moralists on Trafford's council's 'public protection' sub-committee have refused to renew the licence for Totties Lap Dancing Club in Altrincham, which had been running for the last 24 years.

The Venue is continuing to runas a nightclub but has only six months left on the lease from the landlord.

The owner said the option to appeal against the refusal of the licence to the magistrates' court would have been too expensive, bearing in mind there was only a short amount of time left on the lease.

At the renewal hearing last month, chair of the sub-committee, Cllr David Jarman said:

We feel that it's no longer an appropriate area for this type of establishment.

The 'justice' secretary and Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk has said he wants strip clubs to be banned from his constituency town. He claimed such venues harm businesses and attract antisocial behaviour.

His views on Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEV) were aired at the borough council's licensing sub-committee. In an e-mail from the MP he added:

The time has come to stop such venues opening in Cheltenham altogether.

During the meeting councillors approved a temporary licence allowing a bar to host lap dancing during Cheltenham Racecourse's November meet.

A spokesperson for Chalk said the MP has a standing objection to SEV licences and complains that Cheltenham Borough Council has the power to refuse them but they choose not to.

A High Court judge has ruled that Bournemouth, Christchuch and Poole council was unreasonable to dismiss a woman's moralistic safety concerns as moralistic.

A council's policy on lapdancing and strip clubs was overturned by a high court judge, after a challenge by a sexual abuse survivor who claimed it would have a negative impact on women's safety.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council adopted a new policy in November 2021, which allowed an unlimited number of sexual entertainment venues in the area. The policy also meant there would be a presumption in favour of existing venues having their licence renewed annually.

However, a judge at the high court in London has now ruled in favour of the woman and quashed the decision to adopt the policy, concluding the council had wrongly ignored objections raised against it by dismissing them as moralistic.

Mr Justice Akhlaq Choudhury decided that the woman was deeply concerned about the impact of such venues on the wellbeing and safety of women. She believes they contribute to the objectification of women, and to a climate in which women are routinely subjected to sexual and domestic violence, harassment and discrimination. She also believes the policy would lead to a rise in the number of sexual entertainment venues, resulting in an increase in risks to women's safety and welfare and to abusive and demeaning attitudes to women that are detrimental to relations between the sexes and to sex equality in general.