Strip clubs inspected by city officials

The council requested that carpet be relaid at Blue Velvet in Newcastle

Two strip clubs have been inspected by city officials after a union claimed dancers were exposed to "dirty, unhealthy conditions".

The Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) said Newcastle clubs For Your Eyes Only (FYEO) and Blue Velvet had problems with damp and leaking sewage.

Newcastle City Council said inspectors visited the clubs, owned by Maymask 202 Ltd, and found water ingress at a booth inside FYEO, in Neville Street.

However, the local authority said the area had been cordoned off and was "not in use while work is carried out".

A council spokesperson added it made one "minor request" for carpet to be relaid in Blue Velvet, in Dean Street.

Officials also visited the currently closed Diamond strip club, in Grainger Street, but did not report any problems at the site.

"We continue to monitor the situation and work closely with the company," the spokesperson said.

The union raised concerns about leaks and damp in the club

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted Maymask 202 for comment.

The company, part of the Ladhar family's portfolio of leisure, property, and care home businesses, previously said health and safety concerns "had been addressed".

BFAWU raised its concerns with Newcastle CIty Council last month and called on it to change its licensing of sexual entertainment venues to better protect workers.

A spokesperson for Maymask 202 said the company was "very surprised and disappointed that BFAWU had chosen this course of action". Maymask 202 does not recognise the union.

The company accepted the basement-level For Your Eyes Only had suffered from water ingress but said it was not responsible.

It added it was working with its neighbours and the property's facilities management company to fix the issue.

"Where health and safety concerns have been raised, they have been addressed and we continue to monitor these at all times," the spokesperson said.