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Brothel ordered to close down

Tina Curran
26/ 1/2006

A CONTROVERSIAL 'brothel' in Middleton has been given the red card after council officials labelled it inappropriate for the area.

The self-styled health club, Oasis, on Old Hall Street, which offers sexual services to Middletonians, has been told to close within the next few weeks.

The 'brothel' has been operating for more than a year without planning permission but has now been forced to close its doors after its fight to remain in the town was lost.

The sex massage parlour enlists the services of women from the wider area and last year, with closure looming, had advertised an additional 'dominitrix' room to its range of services.

With its own website advertising the girls and their charges, Oasis became a strange feature of the town, sparking gossip and outrage.

Councillors discovered early last year that the brothel was operating without planning permission and later refused to grant it when it applied under the title of 'health club'.

Following visits to the flat it was claimed that the term 'health club' could not be used to describe its use.

Peter Dawson, the then chairman of the committee that made the visit, saw that the three bedrooms, each with a double-bed and shower cubicle, was not consistent with the health club description and permission was rejected.

He argued that the massage parlour was in the wrong place and was not consistent with the image that the new Tesco and Arena would bring to the town.

The Oasis owner, Ann Harcourt, has always insisted that there had been no intention to deceive and appealed against the decision last year. It was the length of this process that helped the brothel remain open for so long.

Only now has the battle ended for the sex parlour and the future of the girls is uncertain. When contacted there was no one available to speak to the Guardian.

A council spokesperson said the premises had to be vacated within four weeks - making it a dismal end for Middleton's only sex parlour.

Peter Dawson said: "I do not think the club is in the right place and would hate that area to become a tolerance zone. It is right next door to the site of what is to be Middleton's new combined civic and leisure centre, not quite the image for the new regenerated town centre."