ONE of the city's two sex shops has had its licence renewed for another year – despite opposition from civic leaders.
City council leader Jon Collins has long campaigned against sex shops and lap-dancing clubs, saying they paint the city in a bad light.
And last year Nottingham City Council launched a consultation exercise to see if the public wanted such establishments closed down.
But the city council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee has now renewed the licence of the only sex shop in the city centre, the Private Shop in Upper Parliament Street.
A second sex shop, Delta Love Productions in Radford Road, Hyson Green, will have its application to renew its licence heard next week.
The committee says it had little choice but to renew the Private Shop's licence, as there were no complaints or reports of any trouble at the premises.
Clive Sullivan, speaking on behalf of Darker Enterprises, which owns the shop and more than 100 other licensed sex shops in the country, said: "There were no objections to the proposal to extend the licence and no problems associated with the business since the last time the licence was renewed."
In response to a question from the committee about young children being able to get in through the doors, Mr Sullivan said: "We used to have young teenagers try to look in, but we have double doors, they couldn't see anything and as they realised this, they don't do it any more."
Chairman of the committee and Bestwood councillor Brian Grocock said: "As we know, there have been no objections and the idea of licensing means the council has greater control over this type of shop.
"The premises have been at their current location in Upper Parliament Street since 2004 and there have been no reported problems since then."
The panel also received one letter in support of the application. It said: "I have never seen any account of any problem with either the shop or its clientele. If another business leaves this block of shops, it'll be one long, boarded-up area."
After a five-minute discussion, the committee decided to approve the licence renewal.
Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Cutland previously hit out at sex shops, calling them "old fashioned" and "demeaning" to women.
But she said she had no say over the renewal of the shop's licence. "This application was reviewed by members of the city council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee and the decision reflects the result of those discussions," she said.
"As is normal in such matters, the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was not involved in the decision-making process."
The results of the city council's public consultation on sex shops have not yet been released.
