RESIDENTS in New Cross have won their battle against a hotel's plan to open a striptease and lap-dancing club.

The owner of the hotel says he will appeal the decision but residents have vowed to continue the fight against the plan.

An application by the White Hart Hotel, in New Cross Road, New Cross, to open a strip club on the premises was refused by a Lewisham Council licensing committee at a meeting last Thursday.

More than 100 letters of objection and three petitions signed by 232 residents against the plan were received by the council, including a letter of objection from the police.

Residents feared that the proposal would lead to an increase in crime in the area and Roberta Farr of Leylang Road, New Cross, believes the club will encourage prostitution.

At the meeting the 60-year-old said: "There's no way you can hermetically seal the activities of the club from the rest of the community and as a woman who lives in the area I'm extremely worried about this.

"It's something we should have zero tolerance for. We all need to make a living but surely the owner can look elsewhere to diversify his establishment."

However, a petition with 189 signatures was received by the council in support of the plan and White Hart owner Ken Linwood said that a lap-dancing club was his only hope of saving his struggling business.

He told News Shopper that he intends to appeal the decision.

He said: "I think the decision was very biased because of some people at the meeting who have a vendetta against me.

"If I don't win the appeal I will be considering doing a disco instead but this will cause more trouble here."

But translator and interpreter Corina Poore, of Pepys Road, New Cross, has vowed to fight any appeal.

The 63-year-old said: "I'm very happy about the council's decision but it doesn't mean that we have won.

"We need to search for an alternative way for him to make a living that we are all happy with.

"We want to have a nice restaurant for families to go to without having to worry about drunks or being assaulted in the streets."

The police also expressed concerns at the meeting over the impact the club would have on crime in the area.

At the meeting Lewisham Police head of licensing PC Andy Laurie said: "My concern is that the club will attract more people from outside the area and add to crime. It's not a risk we should take."

A spokesman for regeneration scheme the New Cross New Deal for Communities echoed police concerns and claimed at the meeting that there is a direct link between lap-dancing clubs and violent crime against women.