Sex shops are just as popular with women as men, York councillor Ken King has claimed. ALEX LLOYD talks to shoppers outside Ann Summers' city centre store.

FROM the outside, it looks like any other high street women's store, with mannequins in the window and a funky turquoise and red frontage.

In fact, the only sign that Ann Summers is part of a multi-million pound sex toys and lingerie empire is the fact that the dummies are wearing nipple tassel-style bras.

Step inside the shop in High Ousegate and you'll find inoffensive displays of lingerie, with cheeky gifts such as jelly handcuffs and naughty hen night goodies close by.

Sex toys and more risqu clothing can be found at the back of the store in an area prohibited to under-18s and with a sign warning that some customers could be offended by what they find.

Women and couples of all ages can be found milling about the shop, and a number of single men are also busy shopping. The staff are smartly dressed and polite, and the atmosphere is fun and relaxed.

It is very different to the perceived smutty image of licensed sex shops. The shops in Bootham, Gillygate and Victoria Street, that sell pornography, are required to cover their windows so that the general public are not offended.

Coun Ken King claimed in a debate about the Bootham shop that it is a common misconception that sex shops are only used by "dirty old men in macs" - and he knew many women who used such shops.

And it seems he is right. Shoppers Lisa, 29, and Caroline, 27, from Selby, said they regularly visited Ann Summers, usually to buy underwear.

Caroline said: "It's a bit different to the stuff you get in the high street shops, and there is something for all ages.

"The more the merrier as far as I am concerned," said Lisa.

Fellow Selby resident Jane Moat, 50, said she preferred the image of Ann Summers to more traditional sex shops.

"It is harmless. It is quite obvious what it is, but when things are hidden behind blinds, they are more seedy."

Customers Dawn Thomas, 48, of Shrewsbury, and Rosemarie West, 68, of the Midlands, said they had no problem with sex shops.

"I am comfortable to go in," said Dawn.

"We have an Ann Summers shop at home and my daughters, who are 18 and 27, love it."

Rosemarie said: "It is bringing it out into the open."

Liz Slater, 33, and Jane Hobbs, 30, were visiting York for a hen weekend and said the bride-to-be had been given a few gifts from the store.

"From the outside, you would just think it is an underwear shop," said Jane.

Updated: 10:52 Monday, March 14, 2005