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Lapdancing given go-ahead at city bar

8:35am Friday 11th December 2009 in


The Rector of an Oxford church said this morning he was disappointed that an application for a lapdancing venue 20 yards from their door has been given the the go-ahead.

Greene King applied for a licence to run lapdancing and pole dancing sessions at Thirst Lodge in Pennyfarthing Place, off St Ebbe’s Street, but staff at St Ebbe’s Church objected.

Last night city councillors at a licensing hearing granted the application.

Following the decision, the Rev Vaughan Roberts said he was not happy with the decision.

He added: “We think this degrades God’s gift to sex and degrades women.

“We have hundreds of children coming to our church day by day and this is one of the gateways to the city.

“To get such a licence at the moment, the law requires no greater stringency than a tea-dance for pensioners — all you need is a small bit of paper on your front door.

“We will not be picketing and we want to be good neighbours, whether we approve of what they are doing or not.

“We have 21 days to appeal but we have limited grounds on which to appeal.”

The brewery withdrew a similar application in January after staff at St Ebbe’s Church complained they did not want a lapdancing bar as a neighbour.

Greene King said at the time that the application had been withdrawn after listening to the concerns of their neighbours.

Comments(12)

tonybrett says...
9:11am Fri 11 Dec 09

I wonder if the vicar thinks that the fact that women never lead wiship in St. Ebbe's is degrading to them?

I'd be interested to hear his view on female bishops too although I suspect I know what he'd say.

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Joe Cooke says...
9:12am Fri 11 Dec 09

I have been to a couple o f these places in other parts of the country on stag do's, to be honest they are pretty boring and the guys get rippedd off in paying high prices for very little return, will this place do 'private' dances?

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wallingford1 says...
9:27am Fri 11 Dec 09

Joe Cooke wrote:
I have been to a couple o f these places in other parts of the country on stag do's, to be honest they are pretty boring and the guys get rippedd off in paying high prices for very little return, will this place do 'private' dances?
so what if people get ripped off. it's their choice. it's a business and thankfully a lot better run than they used to be. If a girl wants to work there and a guy wants to pay to watch, let 'em.

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Joe Cooke says...
9:43am Fri 11 Dec 09

Will they have guys dancing for women punters too?

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PU30 says...
11:10am Fri 11 Dec 09

Not too familiar with the area......will the entrances be clearly marked? Would not like to go in the wrong place by mistake.....

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DAVE THOMPSON says...
11:19am Fri 11 Dec 09

the lap dancing bar will be a great asset to the community,when i lived in london i used to go to one called browns in shoreditch lots of times ,a wonderful place packed with lovely girls and happy customers i cannot wait until the bar in oxford opens

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guiness lover says...
6:02pm Fri 11 Dec 09

I expect the application was approved because the oxford city councillors want to use the club!

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Andrew:Oxford says...
8:40pm Fri 11 Dec 09

So it's all ok for the netball club to get their kit off for a charity calander... But it isn't ok for a woman (or man) to strip down to a similar state for their own personal income... So many problems in the world would be eliminated if the religions of the world demanded their own flock go chaste.

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peter mcvey says...
5:09am Sat 12 Dec 09

The Rev Vaughan, is not happy cos lots of children use the church and there shouldn't be a place like that next door. Well Rev with the amount of Kiddy Fiddlers in the church nowadays, the kids would maybe be safer with the punters next door, than with you bunch of God Botherers

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oxford bob says...
1:18pm Sat 12 Dec 09

As it is such a nice area with druggies and drunks hanging about and boozed up students from the bar. Rev come on, the people who will use this place will probably be better neighbours than those in the area already, a few good door staff to keep the area in order and a few staff making a wage, i cant see much wrong with it. There are planty worse dens of ill repute in the city. Maybe the church just has a case of the Nimby, or perhaps just worried the new club will have a bigger congregation than the church

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bobhowse says...
1:25pm Mon 14 Dec 09

Never let it be said that the Oxford Mail online editorial staff are without a sense of humour.
Alongside Andrew FFFrench's report on the lapdancing service soon to be offered at The Thirst Bar, is an online advert for Stag Weekends in Budapest.
Those of religious sensitivity who oppose lap-dancing in their neighbourhood should consider allowing these dancers to perform in the Church and in the eyes of the Lord.
As long as these events avoid the Sabbath, then lapdancing or anything else involving sex or titillation does not constitute sin.

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sparky123456 says...
1:38pm Wed 16 Dec 09

DAVE THOMPSON wrote:
the lap dancing bar will be a great asset to the community,when i lived in london i used to go to one called browns in shoreditch lots of times ,a wonderful place packed with lovely girls and happy customers i cannot wait until the bar in oxford opens
I've been to Browns in Shoreditch Dave! great place, jugging for a quid and footie on the box. drinks were cheap too.

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