How Wertherspoons imagines the new bar will look in Eversholt Street

FOR nearly 20 years it has been home to lap-dancers – and champagne-drinking customers.

But a prime site building opposite Euston rail station is set to be transformed from one of Camden’s last-surviving strip clubs into something a little more familiar: Wetherspoons.

The pub chain has submitted plans for a new branch in Eversholt Street – a move which would see it convert the former Sophisticats venue. It had also been known as Secrets. Lap-dancing clubs sustained a big blow to their business from the Covid lockdowns and the rules as things slowly opened up again.

Camden Council, meanwhile, has faced repeated calls to stop licensing adult entertainment venues by opponents to the industry who argue that it degrades women.

Performers at Sophisticats had, however, been among the supporters when the club was threatened with the revocation of its licence after a police investigation into claims customers were charged thousands of pounds on their credit cards in one night.

The club defended itself by saying a £50,000 bill was not exceptional in the world of high end lap-dancing clubs, and that women were providing a valued service. Overall, Camden has a policy that says there is nowhere suitable in the borough for a strip club.

No more licences are likely to be granted, but existing clubs can renew their licence on a yearly basis.

Sophisticats has not reopened and now planning paperwork has emerged showing Wetherspoons have already sized up the building. It has not said what a new pub would be called but its agents have told the council that there are community benefits in opening it up as pub.

The site is coveted for the future due to how the forecast redevelopment of Euston Station in the multi-billion pound HS2 railway works would change the nature and possibly the prospects for some businesses.

The controversial railway plan has already lead to the seizing and bulldozing of the much-loved Bree Louise pub on the other side of the station, however, and a collection of independent pubs will be wary of the arrival of Wetherspoons – known for its discount prices.

John Cryne, from CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) said in a message of support that it was “an ideal proposal for creating a place more open to members of the public. Pubs add great value to local communities and visitors alike. Not something that the nightclub really did.”