No complaints about Norwich strip clubs in 10 years

A council has not received any complaints in the last decade about sexual entertainment venues it licensed in a city, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

Norwich City Council said it did not want to have sexual entertainment venues in the city and in September attempted to ban lap dancing at one of Norwich’s biggest clubs.

Norwich has four strip clubs across Prince of Wales Road and Dove Street and one business owner said the council was being “too uptight”.

The authority said that while it was not calling for these places to close, once they did they would not be replaced.

The council’s current licensing rules limit the number of venues to four; previously breached its own guidance by allowing three venues on Prince of Wales Road to operate.

In a statement, Norwich City Council said: “If breaches of these (licensing) conditions are discovered, then a range of actions can be taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of artists and customers, as well as the compliance of the business. “.

In September, the owners of Sugar and Spice on Prince of Wales Road took the council to court to appeal a decision banning dancers from sitting or straddling customers.

This was intended to maintain boundaries and prevent lines from “blurring” due to the extent of contact between dancers and patrons.

However, Norwich Magistrates’ Court ruled in favor of the club after the artists said they had never felt unsafe at work.

Caroline Ackroyd, the authority’s Liberal Democrat councillor, previously said: “We’re not doing this for moral reasons, but we have to think about the safety and wellbeing of our communities.”

Tyrese Malik, owner of the Entice club, said the board does not have to be “so tense.”

He added: “They are creating a hostile environment.

“Look at the time we live in: people can see what they want and do what they want.”

An FOI request from the Local Democracy Reporting Service found that the council had received no complaints about council-licensed sexual entertainment venues.

However, there were some historical noise complaints between 2010 and 2012.

A public consultation is scheduled to close in November, which would remove the presumption that more stores should be allowed to open when the limit is not reached.

In a statement, Norwich City Council said: “The legislation is there to allow sexual entertainment businesses to operate under licenses which come with conditions attached.

“The legislation gives local authorities powers to set these conditions and observe the location of sexual entertainment venues… It includes the safety of performers and customers and the impact of the business on the local community.”

The public consultation will be open until November 3 and will be considered by councilors in due course.