PROTESTERS in the picturesque village of Sawtry have vowed to hold a public meeting as they step up their fight to stop a sex shop opening.

Some residents in Sawtry, near Peterborough, say they are outraged after licensed sex shops chain operator Cocktails Ltd applied for a sex establishment licence to open a shop at the derelict site of a former Little Chef, off the A1(M) Great North Road, and which has been abandoned for several years,

More than 40 members of the public turned up to a special meeting at Huntingdoneshire District Council on Wednesday to find out more about the licence application.

Afterwards Councillor Dick Tuplin said it was now planned to hold a public meeting, likely to be August 25, although time and location have yet to be agreed, to allow as many villagers as possible the chance to have their say.

Cllr Tuplin said there was a fear that not everyone had heard about the plans as the news seemed to have only been passed through word of mouth.

He said: “The application notice was put on a door at the site that was hard to get to and then just a public notice in the paper.”

The council can only refuse permission for a licence if it decides the venture is inappropriate to the character of the locality or to the use of nearby premises or if it is not appropriate to the layout character or condition of the premises.

Cllr Tuplin added that moral objections could not be used by the council to refuse a licence and protesters would probably object in terms of locality,

“The shop will be at the entrance to the village as you come off the A1 junction 15 and we wouldn’t object if it was somewhere on the motorway but no one wants Sawtry to become synonymous with a sex shop.”

MP for North West Cambridgeshire Shailesh Vara said he had already met with the leader of the district council and its head of planning and said he would be supporting the village all the way.

He said: “I am totally against this establishment.

“This is Sawtry and this is not the right sort of place for such a shop and I will be meeting with residents to see what help I can give.”

However, bosses of Cocktails Ltd, which operates 23 ‘sexy superstores’ called Pulse & Cocktails across the UK, said their store will create five retail jobs, in addition to the jobs created locally for the renovation of the derelict premises.

Director of Pulse & Cocktails Clair Boothby said target customers were couples and the stores were designed with a female friendly atmosphere.

She said: “We require a licence at all of our stores to enable us to stock and sell a good range and variety of marital aids and lingerie to our customers.

“The premises in Cambridgeshire are located adjacent to the A1(M) motorway and not actually in the village of Sawtry itself.

“The premises have been derelict for a number of years and our intentions are to invest in the refurbishment of the premises to improve its general appearance and transform it into a modern, retail outlet.”

The council is inviting public views on Cocktails Ltd’s plans and to view the application and for more information visit www.huntingdon-shire.gov.uk