Birmingham's Legs 11 club 'drugged' and 'defrauded' customers

The council has temporarily suspended the club's licence

A lap dancing club allegedly drugged customers and charged thousands of pounds of unauthorised transactions to their credit cards, a report claims.

The report, which was compiled by Birmingham City Council's licensing team, contains police allegations that up to £93,042 was taken from customers of Legs 11 on Broad Street.

The council has suspended the club's alcohol licence, pending a full review.

Legs 11 has not responded to a request for a comment.

In the council report Supt Andy Parsons said two men had claimed they were drugged, with one testing positive for methadone with a home testing kit.

The force is also investigating claims large amounts of money was taken from people's bank accounts without their knowledge.

Some customers had paid for dances "in a private area" but additional transactions were taking place that they had not authorised, he said.

One victim claimed he had lost as much as £19,417.

'Serious criminality'

"In this year alone, four fraud offences have been reported totalling £23,965 with two of the victims reporting they had been drugged," he said.

"One of the victims went as far as getting a home drug test kit which indicated he was under the influence of methadone. This victim had £9,000 taken from his credit card."

The club was being investigated over 17 fraud-related allegations since 2013, West Midlands Police said.

Supt Parsons added "intelligence checks" suggested the club was linked to "organised crime groups from Albania".

"These premises are involved in serious criminality and serious offences are being committed at the premises," he said.

The report also contained details of an undercover trading standards investigation, during which officers were offered sexual services in a locked room for a fee of £1,000 and were "rubbed" by naked dancers, contravening the club's licence.