Entrepreneur Tony Ibrahim has bought the Little Chef at Guyhirn and plans to turns it into Cambridgeshire'
s biggest sex shop.
Ibrahim has previous experience of running a sex shop since until two years ago he ran a small adult only shop at
the rear of a service station at Thorney Toll.
To be honest we ran an adult shop for three years and never had one single problem, he told the Standard. We had more problems with people driving off without paying for their petrol,
smashing canopies or breaking in at nights. The huff and puff over our adult shop at Thorney was one person in the village- who ended up being our best customer anyway!
He hopes to open within a month and the sex shop will cover both
ground and first floors. The store will be known as Kiss Kiss.
However his purchase of the A47 site has prompted the resignation of a parish councillor who said he quit after failing to persuade fellow councillors to join his protest.
Paul Carpenter says he has had enough after a year serving as a member of Wisbech St Mary Parish Council.Fearing Guyhirn will be known as
the sex capital of Fenland he has enlisted the help of an action group to stop the shop going ahead.
Ibrahim said Fenland Council'
s attitude to business was changing, and he applauded their support for local enterprise: Why
shouldn'
t people spend their money on what they want locally.
Comments may be sent to Fenland District Council until 19th May.
Update: Protest Meeting
23rd May 2008
Around 90 irate nutters packed Guyhirn village hall to protest against plans to open the county's largest sex shop at the former Little Chef on the A47.
The meeting was chaired by local
councillor Phil Wait and was attended by developer Tony Ibrahim.
Villagers are said to be 'hugely concerned' the enterprise will cause house prices to drop and will put off new people moving to Guyhirn. They also fear it will give the wrong
impression of Fenland to drivers passing by on the A47. There are also concerns the store's signage and external paintwork will be distracting to drivers and could lead to accidents.
Wait said there are now plans for a second meeting when it is
hoped Fenland Council officers will attend to listen to the locals' viewpoint. He said those who attended were urged to put their opposition in writing to the district council before June 11.
Update:
Call to Resign
27th May 2008 from Fenland Citizen
Sex shop businessman Tony Ibrahim is calling for a town council clerk to resign amid claims the clerk, Erbie Murat,
launched a personal attack on him in an email sent out from the council's computer.
Ibrahim says he is taking legal action against Wisbech Town Clerk Murat, claiming remarks made by him in the email were libellous.
Murat has furiously
denied the email - sent out to various councillors and council officials, raising objections against plans by Ibrahim to open a sex shop at Guyhirn - was personal.
Ibrahim has approached Wisbech Mayor Jonathan Farmer, calling on him to take
action against Murat. He believes Murat should be disciplined for using the council's email address to send out his letter of objection and would like to see him resign.
David Oliver, former Mayor and town council leader, said he had spoken to
Murat and he had been reprimanded for using the council's computer. But he said: It is a personal email, it is not from Wisbech Town Council and it is not inferred anywhere that is from Wisbech Town Council.
Update:
The Letter
2nd June 2008
Murat included scathing comments about Mr Ibrahim's family, finances, ethnicity and children's schooling in his objection to the plans for
the former Little Chef near the A47.
Shortly after receiving a copy of the offending letter - on official Wisbech Town Council headed paper - Mr Ibrahim's wife Sheniz passed a copy to police and her family lawyers.
However, in a fresh
letter to Fenland District Council's licensing department, Murat said: I apologise to Mrs Ibrahim for any distress I may have caused her by my previous letter.
My understanding was that she was part of the application on the basis that she
would benefit from the operation of the sex shop and, therefore, she should form part of the determination of whether the applicant is suitable to hold a licence. I did, however, act precipitously and included material that I had not intended, and I
again apologise to Mrs Ibrahim.
But the fact remains that she is supporting her husband's application for opening a sex shop in a location that puts children and young people, in my opinion, seriously at risk and certainly at much greater risk
that they now endure.