London Selfridges fights plan for strip club opposite entrance

The strip club would be based on Duke Street opposite the entrance to Selfridges

Selfridges is battling proposals to open a strip club directly opposite one of the entrances to its London store.

The retailer has objected to an application to turn an existing club in Duke Street into a bar offering "full nudity", striptease and pole-dancing.

The company behind the proposed club told Westminster's licensing committee it would be discrete, but Selfridges said it "has no place here".

A decision is expected to be made by Westminster City Council this week.

Electshow Ltd, which ran lap dancing venue the Mayfair Club in Dover Street, applied to turn the existing Blush club into a strip club which would operate between 21:00 and 06:00 BST from Monday to Saturday.

The Mayfair Club closed in December when the lease ran out, and company director Wahid Mekhaiel has said he wants to transfer his sexual entertainment licence to the Duke Street premises, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Selfridges argued a strip club "has no place" in the area

Craig Baylis, speaking for Mr Mekhaiel, told the committee the current nightclub was already operating without affecting Selfridges, and the planned strip club would be open "at totally different times" to the department store.

But Philip Kolvin QC, for Selfridges, told the meeting the store had been working to make the area more "family orientated" by building a 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m) toy shop and a cinema in Duke Street.

"This proposal for a lap dancing club is entirely inimical to the character of this area. It has no place here," he said.

Local businesses, residents and the Met Police were also among the objectors to the plans.