Stringfellows, the Covent Garden strip club, has applied to open a new site in Mayfair, London W1, on Dover Street. The BBC reports that locals say it would "undermine the character of the neighbourhood".

What has been applied for

The club has applied to Westminster City Council for a Sexual Entertainment Venue (SEV) licence and a premises licence. The premises licence would allow it to open until 06:00, seven days a week.

The proposed location is the lower ground floor of 8-9 Dover Street, a five-minute walk from Green Park station. It is a former Aston Martin showroom and has sat empty for several years.

Stringfellows said all SEV activities would be held in the basement to cut noise. Numbers would be limited to 175, falling to 100 after 03:00.

The case for the club

Barrister David Dadds, who represented Stringfellows at a licensing sub-committee meeting, said the applications would move the venue away from a nightclub, which it is currently licensed for, and towards an SEV-led premises. The change would let it open later than a nightclub could.

He argued the venue would have less impact on the area than a nightclub, as customers would be more "discreet". The maximum capacity would also fall from 300 under the current licence to 175 until 03:00, and 100 after that.

Dadds pointed out that an SEV had previously been granted for a premises on Dover Street. He also said: "There's no school, no place of worship, no community facilities. It's obviously acknowledged that there is residential but it's either behind or above commercial, predominantly on the ground floor." He added that crime and disruption had not increased with the Covent Garden site.

The objections

The Metropolitan Police has objected on the ground that the venue could increase crime. In a written objection, PC Steve Muldoon said: "I have concerns around the hours applied for and the potential this has to have an increase in crime in the area at a time that is consistently difficult to police."

Residents also raised worries about noise and parking. The Mayfair Neighbourhood Forum stated in a written objection: "Any increase in late night activity after midnight, when ambient noise levels go down, impact on residents as patrons leave the premises, with many returning to cars parked along quiet residential streets."

Belinda Harley, who represented the group at the sub-committee meeting, said residents and businesses feared the venue would "undermine the character of the neighbourhood", and that the area was protected under council policies. She pointed to nearby institutions: "Within feet we have The Royal Academy of Arts, The Royal Institution, The Arts Club, founded by Charles Dickens, the art galleries, the venerable and respected Brown's Hotel. This will mean that all night and at 05:30 loud, drunken rowdy people will spill out into the street."

Harley said the objection was not a "prudish" response to sexual entertainment.