A LAPDANCING club, pubs, restaurants, theatres and a cinema help make up a property portfolio worth £2.1 billion to our councils, the Oxford Mail can reveal.

The real estate ‘goldmine’ emerged after local government minister Eric Pickles urged town halls to take a good look at the buildings on their books to maximise the revenue from them.

Mr Pickles said: “It is not about disposing of the family silver. It is about getting the family silver out, giving it a good polish and using it more often.”

Whitehall wants to make sure councils are making the most out of their buildings, but it sparked a debate about whether certain properties could be sold off.

However, council leaders have insisted they are getting value for money despite encouragement to cash in as they battle budget cuts.

The city council currently owns assets worth £690m, including sites such as the Odeon, the New Theatre, Wagamama, the Jolly Farmer and Grapes pub and night clubs like Thirst Lodge and The Coven, and council homes.

Labour city council deputy leader Ed Turner said renting out assets put £7m into the council’s £25.8m yearly budget.

He said: “We are in public service. If we were a hedge fund and we served notice on any number of important occupants of landmarks like the Covered Market and Modern Art Oxford, I dare say we could get more money.

“Selling property at the bottom of the market then losing the rental income would present a substantial budget challenge. It is not a pot at the end of the rainbow.”

In June, the Oxford Mail reported how Covered Market sandwich shop Mortons defeated a council bid to up rent from £15,000 to £24,000 a year, securing £16,800 instead.

And Market Traders’ Association chairman Chris Farren said the Town Hall could ease up on rent demands to smaller businesses. He said: “You can’t expect smaller independent people to be paying the same rates per square foot as Tesco.”

Rox traders’ group spokesman Graham Jones said: “They are not flexible enough in their approach to the rents.”

But he admitted: “We would not want the council to sell off vast numbers (of properties). They need the income.”

The county council has a more modest real estate portfolio in the city centre, including Pegasus Theatre and Oxford Castle.

Yet its schools and libraries give it a £1.15bn asset base with more than £1m rental income.

Spokesman Paul Smith said there had been “conscious efforts to dispose of surplus assets” and had banked £42m since 2006.

It includes the £3.5m sale of Macclesfield House by Castle Mound for a science museum.