Luton strip club sign to be removed from "child-friendly town"

Luton Borough Council said it was "deeply alarmed" that the "entirely inappropriate" message had appeared

A billboard advertising a strip club is to be removed after a council complained it was inappropriate for its "child-friendly town".

The advert for the After 8 Gentlemen's Club in Upper George Street in Luton appeared next to the Basile restaurant in Guildford Street.

Luton Borough Council said it was "deeply alarmed" and confirmed the sign would be removed in the next few days.

A spokesman for the club said it would be "updating [its] poster accordingly".

Francesco Basile (right) said he had lost business since the sign was put up next to his restaurant about two weeks ago

The sign was put up a couple of weeks ago next to an Italian restaurant, which said people were coming in to ask if it was a strip club.

Owner Francesco Basile said the sign was "disgusting" and he was already "losing some customers".

He estimated he had lost between £7,000 and £8,000 over the past 10 days because it was putting people off coming in.

"Most of the people think there is a strip club here," he said.

A council spokesman said: "We are deeply alarmed that these advertising billboards appeared and share the concerns of our faith communities and parents across the town who are rightly distressed by its message.

"Luton is a child-friendly town and such a billboard is totally inappropriate."

The authority said it had held discussions with both the club and billboard owners, Adnet, and could confirm that the advertisements would be removed "within the next few days" and replaced with "something far less provocative".

It added that it appreciated that no advertising regulations had been breached and it was "grateful" that a compromise had been reached.

"They have agreed with the council's view that the content was entirely inappropriate for town centre locations where they could be viewed by children," a statement said.

It added that it had sent a letter of complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) to express "dismay" that these billboards were displayed.

"[We] will continue to take all actions within our powers to ensure that any future advertising appearing in Luton town centre is in keeping with our status as a child-friendly town," it said.

After 8 club said: "We are also a local business and we all need any support we can get and we will be updating our poster accordingly as we all need to work together."

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