Council in favour of strip club licence fee

Tighter regulation of the borough's strip clubs took a step closer to reality last night.

The council is looking at adopting a tougher new Government licensing regime which would give more powers for the public to reject 'sexual entertainment venues' that are near schools and churches, for example.

But borough councillors favoured a a lower 'sexual entertainment' licence fee than recommended - opting for £5,000 rather than £10,000 -  as part of the proposed licensing regime because of the financial struggles facing town centre businesses.

Under the system, which would put lap dancing clubs in a separate licensing category to standard pubs and bars, licensing officers wanted to charge the annual licence fee to cover potentially sky-high legal challenges.

The Honeypot in Maidenhead and Pink Gentleman's Club in Windsor are the borough's only two continuous strip venues.

Read more in this week's Advertiser and Express.