Bosses of Leeds’s sexual entertainment venues have hit back at suggestions that councillors could shut down the city’s entire lapdancing trade in the wake of new powers to cap the numbers of establishments.
Industry bosses say that if they are forced out of business, they will pursue legal action against the authority.
Leeds City Council’s licensing sub-committee is holding a series of crunch meetings between November 18 and 22 to decide whether the city’s six strip venues can keep their licences.
At least two are likely to be refused after a new council policy – introduced in September – recommended that Leeds should have no more than four lap dancing clubs.
But licensing officials say sub-committee members have the discretion to scrap all six.
Sue Holden, principal project officer for the licensing department, said: “We can’t fetter the discretion of the councillors through the policy.
“It’s not a case of which four will be granted. They could listen to the applications and choose to grant all six. By the same token, they could refuse the lot.”
The six clubs – Deep Blue, Wildcats, Red Leopard, Silks, Purple Door and Liberte – have to apply to renew their sexual entertainment venue (SEV) licences annually.
But the latest hearings are the first since the council decided to propose a limit.
Each club will be dealt with individually, but the sub-committee will issue judgements on all six after the last case has been heard.
Members must outline special reasons for approving more than four if they decide to disregard the policy.
Lap dance club bosses have vowed to fight licence refusals.
Paul Gourlay, who runs Wildcats on The Headrow, said: “We are obviously exceptionally worried about the possibility of the loss of our licence, set against the back drop of no regulatory concern over our business.
“We have prepared a compelling case to place before the licensing authority and hope that there will not be the need to take this matter further to the High Court with the time, effort and expense this will cause to all parties. “We employ a significant number of local people, contribute to the local economy and have a considerable amount of time to run on our lease.
“We will of course need to challenge any negative decision through the legal system which seems unnecessary particularly in the current economic climate.”
The YEP reported earlier this year that plans to double the size of the Black Diamond club had been rejected in a landmark decision that followed the introduction of the cap on the numbers of venues in the city.
