UK Lap Dancing and Strip Clubs Latest

The Daily Mail is reporting that strip clubs are dying out. Only 103 premises still exist in England, Scotland and Wales, figures suggest. This is down from around 155 in 2022.

Nick Ede, one of the UK's experts on popular culture, told MailOnline: OnlyFans has totally killed the strip club. People are now tipping sex workers and strippers using their phones, rather than slipping a 10 pound note in a thong.

It's also a clear generational thing, too. Strip clubs were seen as sleazy venues, now they are seen as old and out of touch with today's lifestyles.

The statistics, obtained by MailOnline under Freedom of Information laws, also show how standalone sex shops are vanishing. Just 42 now exist, compared to 104 in 2010.

Birmingham is the strip club capital of the country, with 21 active establishments. Meanwhile, Cardiff, Birmingham and Wolverhampton all lay claim to having the most sex shops, with four apiece.

Moralists on Trafford's council's 'public protection' sub-committee have refused to renew the licence for Totties Lap Dancing Club in Altrincham, which had been running for the last 24 years.

The Venue is continuing to runas a nightclub but has only six months left on the lease from the landlord.

The owner said the option to appeal against the refusal of the licence to the magistrates' court would have been too expensive, bearing in mind there was only a short amount of time left on the lease.

At the renewal hearing last month, chair of the sub-committee, Cllr David Jarman said:

We feel that it's no longer an appropriate area for this type of establishment.

The 'justice' secretary and Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk has said he wants strip clubs to be banned from his constituency town. He claimed such venues harm businesses and attract antisocial behaviour.

His views on Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEV) were aired at the borough council's licensing sub-committee. In an e-mail from the MP he added:

The time has come to stop such venues opening in Cheltenham altogether.

During the meeting councillors approved a temporary licence allowing a bar to host lap dancing during Cheltenham Racecourse's November meet.

A spokesperson for Chalk said the MP has a standing objection to SEV licences and complains that Cheltenham Borough Council has the power to refuse them but they choose not to.