Shrewsbury club in new lap-dancing bid

The move was today branded as "damaging" for the image of the town.

Shrewsbury town councillor, Andrew Bannerman, who represents Quarry and Coton Hill, said that a licence for three nights of lap-dancing each week at the Source Bar in Barker Street would be "unfortunate".

The bar, which declined to comment on the plans, has submitted an application to allow lap-dancing from 9pm to 3am on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

The club currently has a licence to run lap-dancing evenings on Thursdays only.

Councillor Bannerman said that the extension of the licence, which will be considered at tonight's meeting of Shrewsbury Town Council, would make a big difference.

The councillor said he was also concerned about the potential effect on the image of the town.

He said: "I have talked about this with the police and residents and I think there is a big distinction to be made. It is one thing to have occasional performances of this kind on a Thursday night – that was the original licence.

"Now it is talking about three nights every week. I think that is a big difference and I have in fact discovered there are only three places licensed for this kind of performance in the West Mercia police area.

"The other two are in Warwickshire so we are setting ourselves up in Shrewsbury, by inference, as a sex entertainment capital this side of Birmingham. I think that is a very different matter and I do not think that is the kind of image this town wants to put out to the mass of people in the Midlands."

He said he was concerned about the combination of lap-dancing evenings and the late-night drinking industry.

He added that the location – near to proposed student accommodation for Shrewsbury's university – did not seem appropriate.