Lap Dancing in Glasgow

A lap-dancing bar where the nudity was too much for Glasgow's moralist councilors has won an appeal against the removal of its drinks licence.

The Glasgow venue previously lost the licence after inspectors reported a series of breaches of the city's code of practice on dance entertainment , including performers removing bikini bottoms and having physical contact with customers.

However, judges in the Court of Session in Edinburgh have said the breaches had nothing to do with the sale of alcohol and could not be used as a reason to refuse a licence.

The Truffle Club in Drury Street was part of the Spearmint Rhino group at the time of the inspection and is currently operated as Platinum Lace. Simon Warr, chief executive officer, said: I am naturally very pleased, the decision to refuse the application was totally disproportionate.

A spokesman for Glasgow licensing board said: We will be considering the terms of the decision.

Lord Eassie, sitting with Lords Clarke and Wheatley, said five minor breaches had been listed:

• The code required a risk assessment for the personal safety of dancers and while this had been done, a member of staff during a visit by a licensing standards officer had not known where the document was kept;
• Flyers, in the form of small cards, had shown the upper torsos of two women, yet any advertising was not to feature exposed breasts or genitalia;
• Drinks promotions had been e-mailed to registered patrons, but immediately withdrawn after an officer had pointed out that they conflicted with the board's policy on happy hours and cheap alcohol;
• An officer had seen two dancers remove their bikini bottoms to knee level. The women were from Edinburgh, where they were accustomed to different practice ;
• Several dancers made considerable contact with patrons whilst performing , but the only contact allowed was the hand-to-hand payment of money at the end of a performance.

Update: Angry

3rd December 2011. Based on article from  minivannews.com

At a meeting of Glasgow's licensing board chairman Cllr Stephen Dornan, said he was angry laws around alcohol are powerless to do anything about lap-dancing clubs.

The council is again pursuing changes to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act.

A Scottish Government spokesman said the judgment's implications are being considered, to see what action may be required to ensure appropriate regulation of lap dancing bars .

Mean minded licensing chiefs in Glasgow have secured a legal victory over a lap-dancing chain in a ruling that could have ramifications for the entertainment and leisure industry throughout Scotland.

In what was viewed as the first real test in the courts of Scotland's new liquor laws, Glasgow Sheriff Court threw out an attempt by Spearmint Rhino to overturn a decision from last year against it getting a licence.

The decision, which was made by Sheriff Craig Scott, will send shockwaves through the licensed trade and local authorities. It effectively gives licensing boards carte blanche to determine how venues are run, and gives them more power than they have had in more than 35 years.

Spearmint Rhino, based on Glasgow's Drury Street and now called Platinum Lace, is expected to appeal to the Court of Session but will keep on trading for the moment as allowed in the previous licensing laws.

Glasgow Licensing Board heard how CCTV footage showed two dancers at Spearmint Rhino stripped naked, breaching repressive local policies.

Fun prevention officers also witnessed several dancers making considerable contact with patrons while performing. In addition, an employee was alleged to have exposed her breasts while handing out flyers in Glasgow city centre.

The application was refused as it was supposedly inconsistent with the licensing objectives of preventing crime and disorder, and protecting and improving public health. The premises were considered unsuitable for the use of alcohol , the board said.

Brightcrew, the licence holder for the club's owners, argued in court that the board had introduced a non-statutory basis for the decision, insisting it should be concerned only with issues directly related to the sale of alcohol.

But Sheriff Scott, who ruled against Glasgow's refusal of a lap-dancing application at a court hearing several years ago, ruled that under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 boards are required to set out policies and objectives which are very broad in nature .

He said that Glasgow was entitled to refuse a licence if it felt an application was inconsistent with those objectives. However, he disagreed that the club was unsuitable for the use of alcohol.

Glasgow Council is taking action against cabbies in the local area who feature advertising for lap-dancing clubs in their vehicles.

A ban has been issued by the authority which prevents any of its workers from using a taxi which displays advertising for the establishments, reports the Sunday Mail.

The council explained that it has decided to initiate the move as part of its ongoing actions against Glasgow's lap-dancing industry, which it described as a form of commercial sexual exploitation.

Council deputy leader Jim Coleman, who announced the ban via letters written to each department, has stated that taxis in the area which promote the clubs will therefore no longer benefit from the authority's custom.

This comes after the body last month announced new plans to install CCTV cameras inside cabs operating in the city in a move to monitor taxi users.

The owner behind Scotland's newest lapdance club has a sideline in hardcore porn films starring his dancers.

Spearmint Rhino tycoon John Gray boasts that his gentleman's clubs are in the fantasy business with strict no-touching rules.

The American also has an X-rated Rhino Girls website at www.TheRhinoGirls.com offering hardcore action that the girls can't do in the clubs.

Whingers who failed to stop Scotland's first Rhino club opening in Glasgow this month predictably condemned the company's porn business. They say the explicit online content blurs the lines between lap-dancing, porn and prostitution.

Sandra White MSP said: I've been suspicious of the club's insistence that it offers nothing but squeaky-clean, harmless fun but the Sunday Mail has uncovered a part of the business that clearly goes far further than that. I hope this leads to the club's closure in Glasgow.

Last week Glasgow councillors banned the club from describing itself as a gentleman's club in taxi adverts as true gentlemen would be embarrassed to visit it.