Nottingham has been urged not to feel "too precious" about its caves after a sex worker used one under a pub to take a photo for her online profile. The boss of the Sir John Borlase Warren in Canning Circus said he was appalled to find out about the publication of the X-rated image.
The photo, which appears on an adult service provider website, shows a woman attached to a fixing in the cave dressed only in fishnet tights and a pair of high heel boots. Upon appearing online, the cave was identified as belonging to the pub.
Anthony Hughes, director at Lincoln Green Brewing, which took over the Sir John Borlase Warren in 2015, said the photo was taken when a team member let a friend in whilst the pub was closed to hold a photoshoot last summer. "The team member assures me that they are shocked by the images and did not realise that this was the nature of the shoot," he said.
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"It is purely a mistake and not something we allow to happen, and I can assure you that it will never happen again. We have no connection to the people involved.
"We are proud to run the Sir John Borlase Warren and support its history. We have invested in this business and our local community."
Hilary Silvester, the executive chairman of the Nottingham Civic Society, said the photo shoot was "no bad thing" for the caves, which hold historic significance in Nottingham. She urged people not to be "too precious" about them unless they are damaged.
"Don't deface them in any way but this is part of the history," she said. "It reflects the diverse uses they have been put in in their history. I'm not shocked or horrified.
"We're riddled with caves and it's quite amusing to find they are still being used for odd things. It's interesting and quite entertaining, they have been used for all sorts of things.
"They have been used for air raid shelters, for brewing and people have lived in them. We are not famous enough as a city for the fact that we are built on caves. I'm sure they're still used for all sorts of things, people living in the Park have caves and there are many under the Lace Market."
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