Hot under the collar over tanning shop ads
Calls to remove“sexualised”bikini shots
The Sun Shack model is impossible to miss Two floor-to-ceiling images of a tanned young woman in a teeny bikini have sparked a heated response in Perth.
The Sun Shack in Perth’s Princes Street – the 17th outlet in the tanning shop chain – attracts customers with a bikini-clad model “in a number of sexualised poses” illuminated by UV light, according to a councillor.
City centre representative Peter Barrett has received complaints about the floor-to-ceiling window displays of the Sun Shack salon and told the PA he is “acting on the concerns expressed” to him and has reported the matter to planning enforcement officers.
Cllr Barrett, who as communities convenor has lead responsibility for equalities, said he is campaigning for the removal of the “arched back, cleavage-clutching, bottom display” advertising from the shop frontage.
The Lib Dem councillor said: “Local residents and people working in the city centre have complained to me about the size and content of the images. These images are offensive
Cllr Peter Barrett wants the images removed and quickly and overtly sexual. In one pose the woman is pictured from the front pressing her breasts together.
“In the other she has her arched back to the camera presenting her bottom to the street.”
The Sun Shack – previously a kitchen showroom with full-height glazing – is situated within the Perth central conservation area.
The location offers prime views of the steeple of St John’s Kirk and the former Grammar School of Perth building on South Street to the north.
Cllr Barrett said: “St John the Baptist church and Greyfriars burial ground are viewed to the south and the tacky and offensive nature of the Sun Shack advertisements detract from both and impair the amenity of the local area.
“There has only been a change of use consent from retail to tanning salon for the premises, based on no external changes to the building.
“I am concerned the displays constitute unauthorised development in the conservation area. I hope they will be removed without delay.”
The PA contacted Sun Shack but they did not respond to Cllr Barrett’s remarks.
These images are offensive and overtly sexual