SPEARMINT Rhino, one of the country’s best known chains of lap-dancing clubs, survived a licensing scare on Monday as councillors rejected calls to shut down its flagship venue.

Neighbours had urged the Town Hall to turn down the club’s bid to renew its sexual entertainment licence on the grounds that the club caused late-night disturbance and no longer fitted into the changing character of Bloomsbury.

But after a four-hour meeting, which ran close to an 11pm finish, Camden’s licensing committee agreed to allow the club to keep operating, until next month at least.

Under licensing rules, the club has to renew its licence every year. On this occasion, it has taken Spearmint Rhino nearly 11 months to obtain after long negotiations over whether the club should be allowed to make amendments to its licence, such as the introduction of 24-hour opening hours. The case was bounced back between the council and the High Court.

The delay means the licence granted on Monday night will only apply until the end of October when the process starts all over again.

Labour ward councillor Rishi Madlani had called for the application to be thrown out in full, warning that Spearmint Rhino’s operations did not fit into a planned overhaul of the area which will see millions of pounds of investment and changes to road layouts.

“You have to understand that Bloomsbury is a residential area,” he said.

“There is no reason to have a lap-dancing club on the end of a residential street with a hospital at the other end. It’s not residents that are going to Spearmint Rhino, it is of no use to them. It is no use to the students who live here.” 

Other neighbours had written to the council saying the arrival of new non-chain shops and food outlets was already changing the nature of Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia. In reply, a series of businesses near the club wrote in support of the club, insisting that it did not bring extra disturbance to the neighbourhood.

The club abandoned attempts to win a 24-hour licence earlier this year. Residents in Paramount Court, the flats above the club, had claimed they had been kept awake by noise in the street below. One resident told Monday’s meeting he had installed “tertiary glazing” to try and get some quiet.

Members of the campaign group Object – which campaigns against lap-dancing – sat in the public seats, although panel members were warned they could not turn down Spearmint Rhino’s application on “moral grounds”. 

As part of the new arrangements, the club is reducing the size of walls in private dance areas to ensure greater visibility for security.