As the dust settles over the lap dancing furore, all sides will be waiting and watching to see what the first six months of Croydon's first ever strip club reveals.

At a tense meeting of the licensing sub committee last month, The Granaries in Surrey Street was given a license to allow table dancing under strict conditions.

The girls will have to stay at least 3ft away from the punters, full striptease will be forbidden, a network of CCTV cameras will monitor goings on to ensure that no-one is harassed, and men will not be allowed to leave their seat while being entertained.

But will this be enough to clean up what is usually associated with the seedier side of the entertainment business?

One thing is certain - young women clad in skimpy G-strings, gyrating for paying punters is now a reality in Croydon.

Ardent objector Mrs Fisher from South Croydon is unequivocal in her opposition: "These men are going to come out of the club all worked up and the streets are not going to be safe for young girls. London is not that far and they have all the facilities. Can't these young men go to London - I do think there is going to be trouble."

Conservative spokesman Janet Marshall also has fears of the club spilling onto the streets. She said: "It's distasteful and that is why I supported police objections. There are youngsters going to clubs who will be vulnerable to men in an excited state. It is a real concern.

"I do feel that once a license is granted it's very hard to revoke. There will certainly be similar applications in the future and once we have granted one we have set a precedent.

"I hope that it will prove to be a non-profitable business and will close down naturally."

In the face of this, club organisers Jo Sims and Michael Diamond of The Granaries have a lot of work to do and predictions to disprove.

"We hope to prove these worries wrong," said Jo, who has experience in running a similar event at Secrets in Hammersmith.

"The councillors and the police both went to Hammersmith before granting our license and they were very impressed at how professional it was.

"We are going to add Secrets' expertise to ours and have another professional venue. It won't be seedy and there won't be marauding groups of young lads."

Labour councillor Maggie Mansell accepts that the club is here for the next six months at least and hopes above all that there will be no problems. But she conceded: "I fear that there will be a rush of similar applications."

"We won't allow Croydon to become a centre for sleaze. I fear that women may be approached by unsatisfied customers or worse that street prostitution may develop.

"I also fear that Croydon's position as a centre for nightlife for both men and women may suffer - women may not be encouraged to come to Croydon."

Police licensing sergeant Debbie Blight is taking a wait and see approach to see if concerns over safety and public order are borne out.

In the meantime, staff and performers at the club are making final preparations for the opening night - probably next month. They are only too aware at the amassed ranks waiting for their table dancing experiment to come crashing down. Time will tell.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.