The owner of Dundee’s only lap-dancing club has said he has no concerns over plans to launch a consultation on the question of limiting the number of venues.
The Scottish Government has introduced legislation that gives local authorities the power to limit the number of strip clubs within their boundaries.
Councils can, if they wish, set a limit of zero.
Currently, only six Scottish council areas have lap-dancing clubs.
Glasgow and Edinburgh have already launched consultations while Dundee has now joined Fife, Aberdeen and Highland councils in saying they will follow suit.
Tony Cochrane, who runs Private Eyes on Rattray Street, said he had no fears his Dundee club will be shut down as a result of the consultation.
He said: “I think people misread what is in the consultation.Currently councils have no powers to set the number of clubs.
“There is no suggestion they (Dundee City Council) want to set the limit at zero but if they did want to go down that route there is certain criteria that would need to be met.
“They would need to justify coming up with that number.”
Mr Cochrane, who also owns a Private Eyes in Aberdeen, said: “We run a tight ship.
“This has been in the pipeline for a few years. We’ve spoken to our lawyers and we know what our rights are.”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said it was likely the consultation, which will be run by the city’s licensing board, will take place before the end of the year.
Lap-dancers in Glasgow have joined the GMB union as a result of its consultation on strip clubs, fearing they could lose their jobs if the city decided to ban all clubs.
Several women’s groups claim lap-dancing venues normalise misogynistic attitudes, while the Scottish Government’s commercial sexual exploitation multi-agency group has said it considers the practice a type of violence against women.
