A LAP-DANCING club has been refused permission to expand when race days are held in the city.

Upstairs VIP Limited, which already operates above Mansion nightclub, in Micklegate, will not be able to extend their business in the premises after councillors ruled in favour of neighbours objecting to the plans.

Proposals to open until 5am, seven days a week, and add another Sexual Entertainment Venue (SEV) on the ground floor during this year's 17 York Racecourse meetings had also been met with objections from North Yorkshire Police.

City of York Council's Gambling, Licensing and Regulatory Committee did grant permission to extend their license for 12 months, but rejected plans to open up another area for dancers.

However, owner Andrew Whitney said he would consider appealing the decision.

He said: "What we put forward to do was more than enough for it to be granted.

"It's a disappointing result but a result that's subject to appeal.

"That building is too good to give up on."

The licence-extension was granted subject to the club employing door staff between the venue's basement bar and lap-dancing club, and installing CCTV in every dancers' booth to protect employees and customers by June 1.

Sgt Matthew France, North Yorkshire Police's licensing manger, told the meeting: "There's CCTV on the premises but it doesn't cover all the booths.

"This is the only place in North Yorkshire that doesn't do that, but it will protect the dancers if they are assaulted or a malicious claim against a customer is made."

Five residents objected to the club extending its opening hours from 3am to 5am, and suggested that by moving dancers on to the ground floor on race days would only exacerbate existing problems.

Cllr Keith Aspden, chairman of the committee decided against granting the licence because of the area's character, which housed numerous residents, and said he feared its Listed building status would not be protected sufficiently.

He said: "This is a Listed building and we need to be able to say that it can be managed for its combined use and I don't think it will be manageable."