Lapdancing clubs close after losing licences

BIRMINGHAM’S Legs 11 lap dancing clubs have been closed following a meeting of city licensing chiefs.

Councillors took the decision to withdraw both the sexual entertainment venue and alcohol licences from the two clubs in Broad Street and in the Chinatown district’s Ladywell Walk.

The Broad Street club’s licence had been suspended after police ordered a review following a raid on the Broad Street venue last month. Now, both clubs have lost their licences.

The city council’s licensing committee was said to be almost unanimous in stripping both clubs of their licences, effectively closing them for business.

The Post understands neither the club owners nor their legal representatives attended the hearing. The Broad Street venue had shut its own doors shortly after the raid, announcing on social media that it had been ‘closed for urgent repairs’.

No arrests were made, and the West Bromwich-based Hope for Justice charity, which campaigns against modern slavery and took part in the raid, told the Post that no hard evidence of people trafficking was uncovered.

But a hastily convened licensing sub-committee on July 4 was shown CCTV footage and evidence from the raid – and took the decision to suspend the licence

A report from that committee said: “The sub-committee determined the causes of the serious crime and/or serious disorder appeared to originate from a concerted, sophisticated and highly organised criminal operation being run from the premises.

“This included, but was not limited to, financial fraud and human trafficking.”

It concluded: “The sub-committee was presented with compelling evidence at this stage which satisfied them on the balance of probabilities that the premises were indeed associated with serious crime.”

The club has a right of appeal. No-one from Legs 11 was immediately available for comment despite attempts to contact management. The club opened its first venue in Ladywell Walk, Chinatown in 1996.