Stringfellow: Lap dancing clubs should be in big cities only

Mon 08 Mar 2010

Lap dancing licences should only be handed to establishments in big cities, Peter Stringfellow has stated.

According to the 69-year-old club owner, strip clubs are good for business entertaining and meeting international clients.

This, he said, is why they should be situated in major cities rather than near residential areas in towns and villages.

However, Stringfellow told the Metro that if a lap dancing venue does open in a city, it should not be "tucked in dirty back streets".

Instead, he said they should be "sophisticated" clubs along the lines of those in the West End that are run legally and properly.

Stringfellow said that when clubs such as these turn out at the end of the night, there is no crowd trouble or violence.

He added that he does not expect his business to be adversely affected by upcoming changes in the law, which will require existing lap dancing clubs to apply for a sex establishment licence over the next year or face closure.

Robert Botkai, a partner at Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors, commented: "Mr Stringfellow has a lap dancing club in a big city. Enough said."