La Salsa: Halifax lap dancing club has licence renewed despite objection from women's charity

Despite an objection received from a member of the nearby Womencentre, which supports vulnerable women, licensing councillors granted the renewal.

They heard that neither West Yorkshire Police nor ward councillors objected to the licence being renewed.

Councillors are not allowed to object to object to a sexual entertainment licence on moral grounds but they can take other issues into consideration.

Noting the premises are in the town centre with commercial premises and other late night venues, the locality is effectively unchanged since La Salsa opened in 2002, they said.

But they also noted new homes have planning permission to be built on another site opposite the club, where the former Cow Green multi-storey car park used to stand, though these are not set to be occupied until late 2025.

The new housing was referred to by the objector, who also claimed a previous committee request for silhouettes of naked women on the club’s windows to be removed had not been done.

Womencentre helps women who have suffered from domestic abuse and sexual abuse and they found it distressing having to walk past the images, said the objector.

The objector said: “I certainly believe there is no place in a town like Halifax for a place like La Salsa.”

However, licensing officers said the images had been covered up.

And owner Reza Shahsavar said the club was professionally managed, resulting in the authorities not objecting to the licence.

He added: “I don’t believe it has any effect on the ladies who are going to the Womencentre.”