Club owner claims witch hunt
News Archive > General > Club owner claims witch hunt
has come to define the local authority's attitude towards Newquay's night time economy.
Richard Taylor, part of the former RMR Ltd which controlled Divas and Red Square, spoke exclusively to the Voice, describing the background to the loss of Divas' nudity licence.
Mr Taylor’s Newquay-based companies employ over 150 people during the Summer period and have a multi-million pound turnover.
He said his relationship with the authorities, and in particular the police, had become strained as a result of the anti-social behaviour clampdown and which many people feel could destabilise the resort’s tourism industry to the point of no return.
Speaking out on his own case Mr Taylor said: "For two years, Divas ran with no trouble from drugs, drinking, fighting, or anything else. At £4 a drink and £20 a dance it was not a cheap night out or a beer monster's establishment. We had plenty of visits from police and licensing officers who knew how we worked and had no problems with us.
"Jim Pearce was the Inspector at the time and his only problem was that he asked us to remove the signs outside that said ‘Lap Dancing’. We co-operated, removing them and changed them to read 'Gentlemen's Club.'
"The only problem was that a small number of residents simply did not like the operation being there."
Commenting on the review that led to Divas' licence loss, Mr Taylor stated that Inspector Dave Meredith, Newquay's most senior policeman, had "made it quite clear" that there would have been no review taking place if Divas had not "circumnavigated the spirit of the three foot rule."
Mr Taylor said: "The night before the case we had to go and have a meeting with Inspector Meredith and his solicitor, as he wanted to give us a set of conditions that we would have to adhere to if we wanted to keep Divas' licence.
"As a result of this meeting he said that girls in the raised private dance area to the right hand side could be nude but with no contact and a three foot distance from the customers. The dance floor in the main club could be nude, with three foot rule and no touching from the girls.
"However, he agreed that in the raised VIP area on the left hand side, the girls could be seated in separate chairs right next to the customers, with no three foot ruling, providing they weren't dancing.
"It seemed that he was now prepared to accept the very thing that the review was being brought for."
Mr Taylor stated that because the "deal" was that in the main bar area there could be no physical contact between the girls and customers whatsoever, on advice from his barrister, he declined. This was due to the impracticality of trying to prevent 40 or 50 girls from touching the customers' hands, arms, or any other part of their body, as the risk for the owners would be prosecution.
Mr Taylor said: "As a result of us not agreeing to his conditions, Inspector Meredith then portrayed us at the review as bad operators, and the councillors had no choice but to take away the licence."
The legality of the original decision for enforcing Divas with the three foot rule is currently being investigated. The clerk of a magistrate's court has accepted the case, and if the court accepts its validity it will go to a High Court in London.
Mr Taylor added: "I have always had a good relationship with the police, but there are now bad feelings when there shouldn't be.
"We have invested a lot of money in this town. We have employed a lot of people, and now we are getting picked on. I have always worked well with the authorities in the past and feel that this has all been unfair. We feel it has become a witch hunt.
"This town needs to appeal to as many different types of customer as possible, particularly now during these difficult times. The problems in Newquay are on the streets and that is where the police need to be dealing with problems. A lap dancing club that has had no violence or alcohol related problems in three years is not the problem in town."
Inspector Meredith commented: "In light that there is an appeal running on this premises, it would be inappropriate to make a comment."
