Locals on Withernsea Road in Hull are watching with interest as a new lap-dancing club opens up in their neighbourhood. Spearmint Hippo claims to offer something new in the ‘bit like sex, but not quite’ sector of the town’s evening entertainment market. In featuring chubby women, club manager, Jeff Spurlock, says he is just catering for the tastes of Hull men. “Hull isn’t a very prosperous place these days, so men like to get value for money. They’ve spent a lifetime pricing fish by weight, and old habits die hard”.
Acknowledging that a private club where women won’t have full sex for small change is probably a first for Hull, Jeff has strict rules about what the girls will and will not do. “The men have to show the girls some respect, or Badger, our doormen, will throw them out. There’s no hanky-panky allowed, but if you slip a tenner into one of the girl’s garters she might be persuaded to take her curlers out. The girls will dance on stage, or give you a ‘private dance’ in an adjoining room, where they will sit on your knee and let you feed them chips. And only chips. To keep the women’s weight up, we operate a strict ‘no vegetables’ policy”.
Jeff denies that the women are being exploited. “The pay is good - some of the women dance to supplement their pensions - and they work the hours they want. We even pay for their taxis at the end of the night. For two girls we hire a flat-bed lorry”...
