A lapdancing club has had its annual licence renewed – the first since Bristol City Council voted against a proposed ban on sex entertainment venues (SEVs). Urban Tiger’s application received no objections from campaigners for the first time ever following the licensing committee’s landmark decision in July.
The club, in Broad Quay, is one of a maximum of two SEVs allowed in the city centre under the authority’s existing policy. The other is its sister venue Central Chambers – both are owned by the Hale family – whose annual licence will be decided on Thursday, December 8.
City council licensing sub-committee members were told at Urban Tiger’s hearing on Wednesday, November 30, that the club was run impeccably, the performers were safe and protected and that all arguments against its existence had been proven groundless. The club’s barrister Philip Kolvin KC said that since Bristol City Council took over regulating SEVs following a change in the licensing laws in 2010, the authority had rigorously applied its rules and policies.
