By Liz HearnshawA TOWN councillor has voiced his fury after a controversial plan to allow striptease events at a nightclub was approved.Licensing officials at St Edmundsbury Borough Council gave the go-ahead yesterday for six adult events to be held at Rush nightclub in Haverhill.

By Liz Hearnshaw

A TOWN councillor has voiced his fury after a controversial plan to allow striptease events at a nightclub was approved.

Licensing officials at St Edmundsbury Borough Council gave the go-ahead yesterday for six adult events to be held at Rush nightclub in Haverhill.

The evenings, which nightclub bosses said would be properly organised and comply with strict rules, will feature both male and female strippers.

But there have been a number of sex attacks in the town over the past 12 months and members of Haverhill Town Council had objected strongly to the proposal, saying such events could “stimulate the libido” of partygoers.

Speaking after yesterday's meeting, Chris Cullum, who sits on the town council, claimed the borough council had ignored the feelings of its electorate.

He added: “Before we know it, we are going to have massage parlours in Haverhill and pimps running our town, which is not what we want.

“It seems anything the town council objects to, the borough steamrolls through.

“The members need to get down to grassroots level, come to Haverhill and ask people what they want because they currently do not listen to the electorate.

“A lot of people were against this and it is not really ideal in the light of the attacks we have had recently.”

But Inspector Mark Jepson, of Haverhill police, said few problems had been generated by the club, with officers and doormen liasing closely to clamp down on troublemakers.

Scott Murray, owner and manager of Rush nightclub, said the evenings would be properly “policed” by his staff.

“We have run these events in the past and they have been managed very well. They have also been successful and we have not had any problems or instances during these evenings,” he added.

“During the time I have been at the club, I think I have managed it well, and we have been incident-free. We also operate strict policies to ensure no-one under the age of 18 comes into the club.”

Mr Murray continued: “These events go on up and down the country all the time. They are not sordid, which is what people tend to think.

“The whole thing is more or less titillation and generally provides fantasy. The predominant aim is entertainment. I am just trying to offer the customers what they are asking for.”

A further application, for six foam party evenings, was also approved, and the first striptease event at the club will be held on Monday.

liz.hearnshaw@eadt.co.uk