Lap dance club must pay extra

THE owners of Calderdale's only lap-dancing club will have to pay an extra £2,300 a year if councillors agree to adopt new licensing rules.

La Salsa in Silver Street, Halifax, was closed by the police for a month as part of a probe into people trafficking and money laundering.

It reopened last week.

Calderdale Council Lic-ensing Committee will be asked on Monday to adopt new powers under the 2009 Policing and Crime Act for the licensing of premises for sexual entertainment, which come into effect in April.

Ann Wardle, the council's head of customer services and communications, said the move will allow the council to regulate lap dancing and pole dancing.

"However, existing operators who do not apply or who are not granted a sex establishment licence may continue to provide lap dancing for a year," she said in a report to councillors.

The draft conditions for such venues include a requirement for perfor- mers to wear a non-transparent g-string and for them to remain at least 12 inches from customers who must be seated at all times.

The licensee is also prohibited from displaying any potentially offensive material outside the premises suggesting erotic dancing takes place inside.

A 35-year-old man who was arrested at La Salsa on suspicion of money laundering, people trafficking and immigration offences, has been bailed pending further inquiries.

Police also arrested two foreign nationals on suspicion of immigration offences.

They were released without charge but will be subject to immigration monitoring.

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