Councillor Jonathan Simpson

CAMDEN Town’s last sex shop has been saved from closure after a meeting at the Town Hall that was almost entirely held in private

The press and public were excluded from the bulk of discussion about whether Blue Rose – a shop that has sold DVDs, sex toys and lubricants in Kentish Town Road since 2002 – should be allowed to renew its licence.

Licensing meetings are usually held in public, but parts of them can be made private if they contain confidential information.

A debate about the process began with a tense exchange between licensing chair Cllr Jonathan Simpson and a legal representative for the Blue Rose, with the councillor telling the lawyer not to “roll your eyes” while he was speaking.

The lawyer told the meeting: “I will roll my eyes whenever I like, you can’t stop me rolling my eyes, sir. It is not a police state, you may be the dictator of the licensing committee but you are not entitled to tell me what to do with my eyes. I’m sorry, that’s not acceptable. You can’t make that sort of comment.”

Cllr Simpson replied: “In 24 years as a councillor, the spirit of these meetings is always done in a really civil way, so I would just remind you and suggest to you that that’s the way we conduct the meeting.”

Local authorities review sex shops’ licences on an annual basis, but there was a question mark over Blue Rose’s survival this time around after the Metropolitan Police urged Camden Council to close it down. They had said officers had discovered impotency drugs being sold over the counter.

The business was told it can continue operating on the condition that its owners stay in an “ongoing dialogue” with the police, and that officers carry out spotchecks throughout the year.

There was also a public objection from resident Dan Whittaker, who had warned that with women’s safety high up on the police and council’s agenda, the business may not be appropriate.

Cllr Simpson and Lib Dem Cllr Patrick Stillman – two councillors on the committee – granted the sex shop a licence for another year following the hearing.