The owner of a town centre lap dancing club has said there is ‘no reason’ for the council to revoke its licence.

Developers of new town centre flats in Maidenhead have challenged an application by The Honeypot Bar to renew its licence to operate as a sexual entertainment venue.

The developers say the club is ‘no longer suitable’ for Queen Street in the town centre. But club owner John Sennett says ‘nothing has changed’ since the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead last renewed his licence last year.

He told councillors: “We’ve been there for 25 years with no objections ever upheld. We don’t have a police presence at all there, we don’t have any trouble.

“There’s no reason for you to take the licence away as it’s exactly the same as last year.”

READ MORE: Honeypot ‘no longer suitable’ for Maidenhead say developers

Owners and developers of the new One Maidenhead development in the town centre say they hope to attract 1,250 people to their new homes, as well as businesses on the ground floor.

They say that means The Honeypot now ‘does not fit in with the character of the local area or meet the aspiration of the new town centre'. Licensing law says councils can refuse to grant a sexual entertainment venue licence if they consider it's wrong for the character of the area.

Get Living, which owns One Maidenhead, told the council it hoped to attract ‘young families’ to the new development.

It said: “The development has been a key part of the regeneration of the town centre and will act as a catalyst for positive change in the area.

“We are therefore writing to object to the renewal of the license application as we do not believe it is appropriate to have a premises offering adult entertainment which does not fit in with the character of the local area or meet the aspiration of the new town centre.”

But Mr Sennett said that the new flats at One Maidenhead were still vacant – meaning that the character of the area hasn’t changed.

He told councillors: “The fundamentals from last year to this year hasn’t changed because there’s nobody in the flats, so the situation is exactly the same as last year when the licence was granted.”

Mr Sennett suggested that One Maidenhead’s new residents could become customers of The Honeypot. He said: “The more people that come into Maidenhead, the better for business.”

Councillors on The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s licensing sub committee heard Mr Sennett’s case to renew the licence at a hearing on Friday, May 17. They have until Friday, May 24, to publish their decision.