Lap dancing Pub granted licence to hold more events later this year
AVENUE in Cheltenham that has held lap dancing nights during the town’s racing festival has been given permission to hold more sexual entertainment events during the year.
Councillors on Cheltenham Borough Council’s licensing sub-committee unanimously backed a request to add extra dates to host sexual entertainment nights in October, November and December to coincide with other key meetings at Cheltenham Racecourse.
The venue, the 2 Pigs pub, just off the Lower High Street and yards from the town’s parish church, Cheltenham Minster, hosts sexual entertainment during the biggest racing event of the year, The Festival, every March.
The extra events were granted last week.
The licence will run from 8pm to 5am from Friday, October 25 to Sunday, October 27, to coincide with The Showcase, and from 8pm to 5am from Friday, November 15 to Monday, November 18 for The November Meeting, and December 13 and 14.
The previous licence agreement was
granted in 2017 despite more than 50 letters of objection.
The pub will be able to host lap dancing organised by Red Apple Associates, which uses the trading name Eroticats.
A representative of Red Apple Associates declined to speak to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting.
Concerns were raised by the director of Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (GRASAC), Maggie Stewart, about sexual harassment and assault during The Festival.
She said there was a sexual assault during The Festival the year, but a council officer said Gloucestershire Constabulary confirmed that the assault was not connected to the 2 Pigs event.
Speaking after the meeting, Ms Stewart said: “It was inevitable that the 2 Pigs would be granted the variation to the licence. But I hoped they would consider it a little bit more.
“At the end it appeared to be a fait accompli, and whatever was mentioned was going to be dismissed very quickly.”
Committee chair, David Willingham (LD, St. Peters), said after the meeting: “We want everyone who is engaged with sexual entertainment – whether they are performer, operator or customer – to be safe.
“We want everyone to be safe when they are going out in Cheltenham.
“The problem is that when you have a large influx of people, you will have a small minority who are out to cause trouble for others and a spike of crime during race week.
“You have to be careful to what you attribute it to.”