Historic city gets lap dance bar

A nightclub in the city of Durham has been granted a conditional licence to operate lap-dancing.

The Loft Nightclub in North Road has been given permission to stage table dancing at the premises three-nights-a-week.

The owners, Vimac Leisure, had applied for a seven-day licence. Police and 50 residents objected to the application.

Durham City Council's licensing committee announced the decision after a five-hour meeting on Wednesday.

Ch Insp Laz Szomoru, of Durham Police, said: "I am disappointed with the result that we have obtained today.

Hopefully, if there are any problems in Durham the residents will come back to us and we will review the situation Councillor Maureen Smith

"We came along with a feeling that we had a strong case for the objection, as did local residents.

"Now our job is to work with the operators to ensure that the premises do not cause the problems that we anticipated."

Councillor Maureen Smith, who chaired the licensing committee, said the club's licence for lap-dancing would be reviewed if there were any problems at the building.

She said: "After hearing all the points of view we had to stick strictly to the constraints of the law and agree to the application.

"Hopefully, if there are any problems in Durham the residents will come back to us and we will review the situation."