A STRIP club in a leafy Hammersmith street has been given the green light to continue trading after stricter rules threatened its future.
Secrets in Glenthorne Road had to reapply for its sex establishment licence after tighter laws were adopted last year which gave councils the power to close down strip bars near schools and community buildings if enough residents posted objections.
In the end, eight letters of complaint were received by the council, a figure deemed not high enough to warrant the club's closure, a licencing committee ruled last week.
The club, which has been open for 14 years, will now have to pay an annual fee of nearly £17,000 to keep trading.
Those objecting did so on various grounds, including the club's close proximity to Godolphin and Latymer School and the West London Free School, the personal safety of female performers and fears over crime and disorder.
One complainant wrote: "It is really shocking that an establishment operating in the sex industry should be located in an area of multiple schools, one of which is an all-girls' school on the same road. It could not be a more inappropriate location for such a club, which profits by demeaning and exploiting women to 'entertain' men."
But people approached by the Chronicle in Hammersmith backed the club, which is described on its website as having 'an atmosphere which is very friendly and relaxed' in one of the 'UK's first, full nude table dancing venues'.
James Nicholls, 31-year-old chef said: "I’ve never been to a strip club but I’m not offended by it, as long as they are not out on the street I don’t see a problem."
Hammersmith and Fulham Council said it has added extra conditions on the new licence, which allows the venue to open until 4am.
Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, chairman of the licensing sub-committee, said: "The council has imposed 31 stringent conditions to mitigate any adverse impact on the local community. We do not support these kinds of sex establishments and we have made it very clear to the management that they must rigidly stick to the conditions of their licence."
