PLANS to open a pole-dancing club in Eastbourne have been approved.

Councillors granted a sexual entertainment licence for a premises above the Embassy nightclub in Pevensey Road on Monday.

It means men or women will be allowed to perform exotic dancing between 10pm and 4am from Monday to Saturday, and until 3am on Sundays and bank holidays.

The club is expected to be named Salon Privé.

Adrian Ley of the Town Centre Neighbourhood Panel said it would be inappropriate in this part of the town which was busy with tourists.

He said: “This is not a discreet location in a back road, it is a highly visible location within the town centre.”

He said the panel was also concerned about increased unruly behaviour in the area and the impact this would have on vulnerable people living nearby.

He said: “It is our view that the presence of such a venue will have a detrimental impact on the attempts to improve and regenerate the location.

“The panel has a very strong concern about the impact of the premises in terms of the vulnerable residents living nearby. Those people who will be affected by the patrons leaving and going to the premises.

“We regard the type of entertainment going on there to create a significantly higher risk of noise and disturbance than we currently experience with other late night venues.”

Barrister James Rankin for F Forte Developments said: “Parliament has laid down strict guidelines and strict grounds for refusal and ‘that you find it offensive’ is not one of them.

“It is a very difficult thing because the premises already has a licence and the Embassy already operates until 4am, six nights a week.

“The issue at stake is what will be the impact of a man or a woman taking their top off. That is all it is.

“For the Town Centre Neighbourhood Panel to suggest the sky will fall – that somehow it is going to impact the vulnerable residents that live there – is, with the greatest respect, perhaps overstating their position.”

Mr Rankin said the signage outside the club would be discreet, with the only the name to be displayed. It would also be separate from the Embassy nightclub, with a its own entrance and two dedicated door staff.

Under a strict code of conduct agreed with police, the performers must not dance fully-nude and must remain at least three metres from customers.

The council will review the licence yearly.