A STRUGGLING entrepreneur who fears her business could go under says prudes should stop moaning about plans for a new lap dancing club nearby, claiming it could boost trade.

Sarah Colquitt, manager and self-confessed “dogsbody” at the Puss ‘N’ Pooch grooming salon and boutique in Lowesmoor, Worcester, is fed up with people moaning about the Black Cherry club, when it could help struggling traders keep their heads above water in the recession.

The club, which could feature 15 naked or topless dancers performing each night, is scheduled to open at the site of the former DNA club in the new year.

Since your Worcester News revealed the plan, an e-petition has been launched by a psychotherapist, Dr David Mair, against Black Cherry on the grounds that the club will lower the tone of the area and that lap dancing can have a devastating psychological toll on the women who take part, damaging their self-esteem. Dr Mair also branded the club “insensitive” and “inappropriate”.

But self-employed single mother-of-two Miss Colquitt said more people should get behind the venture, rather than moralising.

She says the club would provide jobs for dancers, bar staff and security staff after Lowesmoor had been hit by five months of roadworks which began at the end of May to improve the look and feel of the area.

Mrs Colquitt, also a burlesque events organiser, said: “The businesses in Lowesmoor are dying a death. We have suffered five months of roadworks and been forgotten almost. It’s nearly killed my business.”

And Miss Colquitt, who said she had been forced to take on an extra job part-time to keep her business afloat, said she had been surprised by the reaction to the new club.

“It is surprising how prudish Worcester is,” she added.

“The club is going to open up a lot of work and if the dancers choose to do it then more power to them.

“People seem to think women are being beaten and whipped and forced into it for a loaf of bread.

"If it brings more foot trade past the window people might see there is a dog grooming business there. Most people know my business is struggling. The road works have literally nearly flattened me.

“There is still a possibility my business could survive and I have been holding on and holding on for a mini-miracle. I have been treading water but I feel like I’m sinking now.”

Related stories: