Lap Dancing Club Faces Wait for Licence Renewal

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Decision on Secrets deferred to give time to investigate anonymous complaint

Secrets is on Glenthorne Road

June 15, 2025

The potential renewal of a long-standing West London strip club’s licence has been adjourned to allow more time to investigate an anonymous complaint.

Secrets, which has traded from Glenthorne Road in Hammersmith and Fulham since 1997, had applied to renew its Sexual Entertainment Venue (SEV) licence to run until March 2026.

A Licensing Sub-Committee meeting due to be held on Wednesday night (11 June) was however deferred while the complaint is fully investigated by the council.

The club’s existing licence allows it to trade until 4am six days a week and midnight on Sundays.

Its request for a renewal received 32 objections during consultation, two of which were later rescinded.

Most of these focussed on the impact of the club on local residents and the two schools, Godolphin and Latymer, and West London Free School Primary, with several also referencing an incident last November in which a fight occurred outside the premises.

One person wrote: “We are not sure how having a sexual entertainment venue in a residential area, right next to a school and private residences was ever acceptable to the borough of H&F but to allow it to open at 6pm on weekends, when families are still out and about and with possible school activities would be very inappropriate and upsetting, not to mention further noise and disruption.”

Stephen Less, owner of Secrets, submitted a statement of his own in which he wrote the club operates strict management controls and that incidents of disorder are rare.

On the video which had been circulated, he wrote the customers involved had dispersed once they were told police had been called.

He added a barman who had gotten involved was suspended and later sacked following an investigation into the incident.

A representation was also submitted by the council’s licensing officer, Adrian Overton, who had requested the meeting be adjourned given the outstanding investigation into the recent anonymous complaint.

No details were given of what the allegation involves, though Mr Overton wrote the complainant had suggested they would be able to provide more information if a meeting is arranged.

“Given the short timescale between receipt [of] this information and the date of the renewal hearing, the licensing authority have currently been unable to investigate this matter,” he wrote.

Mr Overton also referenced a previous complaint made in January alleging the manager of Secrets was selling drugs and performers were engaging in sexual activity with customers.

A full licensing inspection took place in April, during which officers asked performers for their thoughts of the premises.

The inspection found the response to be “positive” and that performers “seemed to show they were happy to work there”.

Concluding his findings, Mr Overton wrote: “The anonymous complaints recently received by the licensing team are also of concern, however at this stage the licensing authority has been unable to establish if there is any substance to the most recent complaint received in May 2025, which still requires investigation.

“Given this outstanding investigation, the licensing authority is currently unable to reach a conclusion on the suitability of this premises to hold a sexual entertainment venue licence. We would therefore respectfully suggest that the hearing scheduled for this premises is adjourned to a later date, whilst the latest complaint is fully investigated.”

Cllr Mercy Umeh, Chair of the Licensing Sub-Committee, issued her decision on Wednesday night to adjourn the meeting.

It is the second time a decision on renewing Secrets’ licence has been adjourned. The first hearing was scheduled for April 30, but was pushed back to allow for investigation into the video showing the disorder outside the venue.

A spokesperson for Secrets said: “Secrets continues to look forward to the swift determination of its application. Questions about the council’s decisions are properly directed to the council.”

A former Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham, PJ Murphy, previously said the location of Secrets in a residential area “aids the mixed messaging of male dominance being acceptable in a modern society”.

“The club’s very existence undermines our efforts to eliminate harassment and promote equality,” he wrote ahead of the last renewal of the club’s licence in 2021. “Women will never be seen as equal when they are available for purchase.”

Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter

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