"We like sex so much we do it full time"

The boss of a lapdancing club which has been hit by criticism after it was forced to apply for a new licence has hit back at those who claim his business is “not appropriate”.

Timothy Roidl, who runs TR Leisure, said his venue Players, on the corner of Printing Office Street and Cleveland Street, Doncaster, was “not seedy or sordid” and had a loyal client base. Mr Roidl and his club are at the centre of controversy after Doncaster Council introduced new measures under the Policing and Crime Act 2009, obliging the venue to apply for a Sex Establishment Licence.

As the Yorkshire Post reported yesterday, the new application has resulted in a petition from local businesses and a letter from a local church minister, opposing the licence and calling for the club to close. Since it opened in October 2006 Players has been operating under a standard alcohol licence and Mr Roidl said the new licence would not mean the venue would change what it did at all.

He added: “I think the term sex establishment licence scares people and they now think its going to be something that it isn’t and that it is going to change from what it did before. There isn’t going to any change in what we are doing, and that is what we have been doing since we opened more than five years ago. The only change is that my bank balance is £9,000 lighter because I have had to get this licence from the council just so I can continue trading. We have good systems in place and, to be honest, 80 per cent of my takings come from drinking, not from the lapdancing. It’s not really a ‘gentlemen’s club’ type atmosphere. People’s perception of what the licence means seems to be wrong, and I want to reassure them if I can.”The licence will be discussed by members of Doncaster Council’s licensing committee which meets next week.