Adult club finally closes down

9:01am Wednesday 7th May 2008

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A CLUB providing "adult enter-taininment" which traded illegally in Hoylake for two years has finally been shut down - with a little help from the Globe.

Reflections - once host to meetings of the "Wirral Smooth, Cut And Nude" group - has finally left its premises in Carham Road on the Carr Lane industrial estate.

But its operators left their departure until the last possible moment after placing legitmate legal hurdles in front of council enforcement officers who were trying to force them out.

From day one, the Globe reported how the club - which was refused retrospective permission to offer "relaxation and adult entertainment" - first opened shortly before Hoylake hosted the Open Golf Championship in July, 2006.

It's understood the owners of the business originally claimed they would be using the factory unit for the production of candles and other wax products. But in October of that year, the council's planning committee decided it was operating in contravention of the rules covering such industrial areas.

The committee refused to allow retention of the unit as a private members' club and authorised council officers to put enforcement action into place - effectively a closure order.

At the time, the club was being advertised on the internet as the monthly meeting place for an organisation calling itself Wirral Smooth Cut and Nude.

That group's previous meeting place had been at the Norwegian Wood massage parlour in Hoylake's Market Street, which itself closed down shortly before Reflections started operating.

But despite facing enforcement action, business at Reflections carried on as usual with a steady stream of customers arriving throughout the day and evening.

The council was able to put enforcement action into place because the club was in breach of planning regulations, in that the factory unit should be used for industrial purposes.

But the club - after being turned down for retrospective planning permission - then lodged an appeal against the enforcement notice, which meant it was able to carry on operating while the appeal was considered.

However, those legal routes have now been exhausted and Reflections has shut up shop.

This week, Hoylake and Meols councillor Gerry Ellis praised for the Globe for first bringing the matter to the public's attention. "I think what we have here is an excellent example of how the Globe helps the local community, its councillors and the council officers themselves to highlight local problems and get something done about them," he said.

"I'm delighted that this long-running problem is now over. I know it was a matter of considerable concern to the people who live or own businesses in the area."

A council spokeswoman said: "The enforcement action taken by the council was successful and this establishment has now closed."