Ministers are to close loopholes under which lap-dancing and strip clubs are treated in the same way as bars and restaurants when they apply for licences. They want to make it easier for local authorities to close or regulate the clubs by raising the bar before applications can be approved. According to some estimates the number of clubs has doubled to 300 in four years.

Gerry Sutcliffe, the Licensing Minister, wrote to all local authorities last night asking them whether they wished to have stronger controls. The clubs are licensed under the 2003 Licensing Act and there is nothing to stop a karaoke bar, for example, becoming a lap-dancing club.

Ministers believe that such clubs should be treated as “sex encounter establishments” and licensed as such under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1982, which would put them in the same category as sex shops and peep shows. A sex encounter establishment is defined in law as “a venue whose purpose is to provide visual sexual stimulation” and MPs say lap-dancing and strip clubs are clearly in that category.

The Commons gave an unopposed first reading to a ten- minute rule Bill that would have had the effect of making the changes sought by ministers. However, that will not become law because of lack of time.

Kat Banyard, of the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women’s rights, said: “Lap-dance clubs . . . normalise the sexual objectification of women. Areas surrounding them can become ‘no-go’ areas for women. But current licensing rules mean local authorities cannot treat a lap-dance club differently from a coffee shop.”

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