Boss hits back over lapdancing claims
08:00 09 September 2011
Archant
A WESTON councillor is calling for a lap dancing club to be shut down – but the manager of the nightspot says the business is doing no harm.
The owners of the Shadow Lounge in Regent Street have applied for a sexual entertainment licence.
The application is purely a formality for existing venues as part of a new law that came into force earlier this year.
But North Somerset councillor Mike Bell says the application should be refused and the club shut down as it is in an inappropriate spot in the town centre.
He said: “Regent Street is in the retail and tourist heart of Weston.
“Around the corner from the High Street and yards from the Grand Pier, thousands of families visit the area every day.
“Lap dancing, however distasteful or otherwise people may personally find it, is legal, but that does not mean that lap dancing clubs should be allowed just anywhere.
“It is simply not appropriate for it to be located in this area and I want to see the application refused and the club closed down.”
The club temporarily shut last year after undercover reporters discovered that a 14-year-old was working at the venue.
But following the licence review, manager Jesus Rodriguez Casas says there have been no complaints from the police or local authority.
He says the club has been operating in the same spot for six years and conditions laid down by the new licence will not be any different to those the venue is operating under now.
He said: “This is more about politics than anything else.
“The club won’t even open until 10pm and families won’t be about then. The club is next to a lot of pubs.”
The licence, if granted, would allow lap dancing to take place between 10pm and 5am, amended times to those originally suggested. The application will go to a licensing committee once a consultation period closes.
