Judge confirms table dancer rules

Dancers have to keep at distance but are allowed to bare all

Gyrating table dancers and their public must be divided by a 36-inch no flesh zone, a judge has ruled.

But Tower Hamlets council in east London, which first imposed the ban, lost its bid to ensure that dancers cannot perform completely naked.

The judge said that wearing a G-string or nothing at all was the same when it came to "preventing crime or preserving public order".

But the security distance would make sure dancers and public never touched.

The row broke out when Ben Sushi, a restaurant chain, opened their latest Secrets club in London, and the Hamlets Borough Council introduced the new regulation.

The company's QC, Kevin de Haan, criticised the ruling saying it revealed an "Alice in Wonderland" approach.

He said the security distance measure was "unenforceable", pointing out more than two-thirds of London's table dancing clubs did not have to observe it.

But Judge Neil Stuart said the ban was meant to avoid inevitable difficulties in distinguishing between "close approaches and actual touching".

He said he and the two other judges who examined the case at Southwark Crown Court had put aside any personal issues with the nature of the show, and tried to meet the appellants halfway.

But according to Mr de Haan, the police did not support the ban because it was too difficult to enforce.

"They believe the protection of dancers and good order and decorum in the premises is maintained by a rule that there should be no physical contact during the performance between the audience and the performer," he argued.