The boss of Oxford’s only pole dancing school says the energetic activity should be an Olympic sport.

Dance Inspires, which is run by Kate Whitley, opened its fitness studio in London Road, Headington, in January and was recently granted retrospective planning permission for its studio.

Ms Whitley said the school was keen to distance itself from the adult entertainment aspect of pole dancing.

She said: “We don’t do the pole dancing you do in clubs.

“None of my students or tutors will necessarily work in nightclubs because the sort of pole dancing we do is too exhausting.

“We practise a very specific type of dance that has now evolved into a recognised method of fitness.

“We are working to get it into the Olympics and we take ourselves very seriously.”

Dance Inspires gives pole dancing lessons for people as young as 18 and as old as 58 and its courses attract up to a 100 people each week.

Ms Whitely added: “There’s no specific type of person who takes part. There are plenty of men in the industry and we did try a men’s class but we don’t seem to get that many in Oxford.”

Instructor Adrienne Mc-Gurn, 29, a legal secretary from Headington, said: “We had 13 women along for a taster session the other night and these classes are becoming increasingly popular.

“We don’t teach the moves you might see in a nightclub – it’s much more like a gymnastics floor routine. Anna Sloan, who comes to our class, recently came fourth in the European Pole Dance championships in Holland.

“Everyone is welcome – one lady who came in the other night had a prosthetic limb.”

The city council granted retrospective permission for Dance Inspires to change the use of its premises from office space to a dance studio.

Ms Whitley said: “The planning department were very supportive and helpful. So many businesses are leaving Headington they were quite pleased somebody was applying to have a business there.

“We didn’t know we needed to change the use when we opened the school. As soon as we were informed we put an application in. There weren’t any major reasons why permission wouldn’t have been given.”

dfantato@oxfordmail.co.uk lInterested in pole dancing lessons? Visit danceinspires.vpweb.co.uk