Newcastle 'James Bond meets Playboy' club plan rejected

The club would have taken over the old Pizza Express site on Dean Street

Plans for a "James Bond meets Playboy" members' club have been rejected.

Bijoux Leisure had wanted to open the Cad Club in the former Pizza Express premises in Dean Street, Newcastle.

Opponents claimed the club's use of "scantily clad" hostesses would leave female staff treated as "sex objects".

Newcastle City Council's licensing sub-committee rejected the venue's licence application saying it would have a "negative impact" on crime, disorder and public nuisance.

While bosses behind the plans strenuously denied allegations of misogyny and said the concept had been misunderstood, council and police officials still held "grave concerns" over the prospect of a new club opening until 03:00 each night in one of the busiest parts of the city centre.

'Retrograde step'

Bijoux Leisure's Dan Miller had told the committee his proposal was a place for "like minded" guests to sit and discuss business or politics and that its food menu would be "of a standard that Newcastle has not seen before".

He also warned that there had been no other interest in bringing the vacant building back into use.

He promised that staff would be given an allowance to buy their own "glamorous and upmarket" clothes and that the "James Bond meets Playboy" idea referred to the club's 1960s-style decor rather than anything "misogynistic", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But community safety boss Joan Flood that the club would be a "retrograde step" and would "only appeal to a very narrow and shrinking male demographic".

Sgt Julie Cottiss, of Northumbria Police, added that she too had "grave concerns".