Legal bid on sauna closures dropped

SAUNA bosses in the Scottish capital have abandoned a legal action which they hoped would allow for the continued operation of their businesses.

Lawyers acting for the owners of six saunas in Edinburgh told the city’s sheriff court yesterday that they no longer want to appeal against closure by using the Scottish legal system.

They will now continue their battle to remain open by appealing to Edinburgh City Council. They want councillors to overturn their decision from earlier this year which resulted in the saunas’ operating licences being suspended.

Edinburgh City Council have for many years tolerated the saunas which allow men to pay for sex with females who work there.

However, in June 2013, police started raiding the saunas and the council suspended the licences of six sex-for-sale centres.

This prompted the action in Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Last month, people associated with the saunas said they had a list of 50 “well known” public figures who paid for sex at t hei r businesses.

They said the list included police officers, council officials, lawyers and two “celebrities” and they planned to name them in court.

However, t he names weren’t revealed during the two-minute long court hearing yesterday.

Sheriff Neil MacKinnon was told the proprietors of the Paradise, the New Gentle Touch, the Dundas Street Sauna, Scorpio Leisure, the Blair Street Sauna and the New Town Sauna no longer wanted the matter heard in court.

Sheriff MacKinnon agreed to end the legal action.