HAMPSHIRE lap dancing bosses have condemned tough new laws they warn could threaten the future of the industry.

They fear lap dancing clubs will face closure when, from next April, they become subject to the same rules governing sex shops and peep shows.

Currently venues where women strip and offer topless, fully nude or private dances are controlled by the same licensing rules as pubs and bars.

Under the new laws club owners will have to apply for an additional “sex encounter venue” licence every year from the council, which could cost up to £30,000.

Daily Echo: Click below to see a video of today's headlines in sixty seconds

And new powers mean councils would be able set a quota to close clubs down if there are too many in a single area or if venues are located near schools.

Chris Knight, vice-chairman of the Lap Dancing Association, which has lobbied against the stringent new rules, said: “We run the very real risk of clubs being forced out of business because the licence can be objected to every year on moral grounds.”

He said the changes was being driven by “extremists” at the Fawcett Society, an equal rights outfit, who had refused an invitation to meet dancers whose could lose their jobs.

Mr Knight, who is operations director of the For Your Eyes Only club in High Street, Southampton, insisted: “We are not selling sex. We are a nightclub offering entertainment. Its titillation and fun.”

Vicki Andrews, who owns the Aqua Lounge in Above Bar, has personally addressed government ministers in a bid to persuade them not to bring in the new regulations.

Miss Andrews, who employs 30 staff, said: “These regulations are just superfluous and unnecessary.

“Nobody in the industry wants it. It’s just a cash cow.”

“It will not be positive particularly for us, as a small business employing 30 people.

“My club is opposite the university in the centre of town. There is nothing tawdry or sleazy about it. To say the girls are exploited is an outdated statement. My girls are not exploited in the least.

“We never have any disorder.”

She said clubs would have to pay out extra for their yearly renewal licences and councils would have greater powers to shut them down.

Miss Andrews admitted there were some clubs sited in the wrong area, but that local councils already had the power to veto those.

The new licensing system will also give residents greater opportunity to object to lap dancing clubs if there are too many within a certain area. Southampton now has three lap dancing clubs within a two mile radius. As well as the Aqua Lounge and For your Eyes Only, the city’s newest lap dancing club Glamour is situated in between family restaurants Frankie & Benny’s and Ask at Leisure World.