Proliferation of Lap Dancing Clubs – female MP pushes on in campaign for increased regulation
As well as liberalising pub opening hours, the Licensing Act of 2003 also abolished the power of local councils to regulate lap dancing clubs, placing them in the same legal category as coffee shops or karaoke bars. Since the act came into force in 2005, the number of clubs nationwide has proliferated to three hundred, doubling the total of four years ago. A series of court cases has shown that local residents often have no recourse to stop them opening in their neighbourhoods. When such a case almost happened in her own constituency, Roberta Blackman Woods, MP for Durham, determined to apply through Parliament to bring about reform in the licensing laws. Scheduled its second reading in the Commons today, she joins Sheila to discuss why she will not give up until there is a change in the law. |
