Councillors vote to keep strip clubs open

Strip clubs are legal in the UK but it is up to individual councils to grant licences

Strip clubs in Bristol will not be forced to close after city councillors voted against a proposed ban.

Members of Bristol City Council met earlier to decide the fate of the city's sexual entertainment venues.

It is nearly 15 months since a draft policy was published proposing a ban. There are currently two venues in the city, Urban Tiger and Central Chambers.

One councillor supported a city-wide ban and 10 councillors voted in favour of keeping the strip club venues.

Amelie, an Urban Tiger performer, said the ban would have forced her "back into poverty and underpaid work".

"Shutting down these venues would harm workers' rights," she said.

The draft policy proposed a ban amid concerns of a link between strip clubs and sexual violence.

Central Chambers is one of two sexual entertainment venues licensed by Bristol City Council

Bristol's Women Commission chair, Penny Gane, told the meeting: "It is recognised by experts that SEVs promote sexism and violence towards women.

"It's not appropriate for them to be licensed by any 21st-century city.

"A city that licenses strip clubs is by definition a city that licenses sexism".

Labour councillor Philippa Hulme was the only one to vote for the ban.

"There is a huge weight of evidence that people visiting these venues leads the customers and others to objectify women," Ms Hulme said.

A 12-week public consultation was held on the matter between September and December.

There were 6,273 responses to the consultation of which 90% were from members of the public.

The results showed that 86% of respondents "disagreed or strongly disagreed" with the introduction of the ban.

In comparison, 12% of respondents "strongly agreed" with the proposed policy.

Jonathan Hucker, (Cons) told the meeting the results of the public consultation were "clear and unambiguous."

"There is a possibility that if these venues were to close, the performers might seek employment in unregulated venues and in unsafe activity," he said.

The announcement of the final decision prompted loud cheers from the public gallery.