HOUNSLOW Council has passed a motion making it harder for strip joints and lap dancing clubs to open in the borough.
Tuesday's motion gives the authority more power to regulate the newly defined, Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEV). Previously, venues which offered strip or ‘peep’ shows needed only to be licensed for music and dancing. Applications could be refused only if there were worries related to crime or child protection.
The council will impose a new rule that requires all SEVs to apply for a sex establishment licence – which means they come under far stricter regulation.
The slackness of the council’s rules was discovered when an application for a strip club in the centre of Hounslow could not be rejected because it was not a residential area.
Councillor Adrian Lee commented that if Hounslow did not follow the example of Richmond, Hammersmith and Fulham and Ealing boroughs in adopting the new regulations, it would be seen as the loosest borough in West London.
