Kingston club scraps stripper licence

Kingston nightclub Ama-gi is dropping its strip club licence after being closed down for bankruptcy earlier this month.

As part of a significant image overhaul, Ama-gi will re-open as Library before the end of October without its strip permit.

New owner Steve Fleury, who also owns Barcadia, is intending to renovate the interior of the club in an effort to make it a more upmarket place to go out.

Olly Turnbull, part of Library’s management team, said the strip club license had “shocked” local businesses.

“It’s not what Kingston should be striving for,” said Mr Turnbull. “We’ve decided to get rid of the licence and put everyone at ease.

“We didn’t want it hanging over us.”

Ama-gi is the third nightclub Fleury has managed. Barcadia was closed in January this year after a man was attacked with a broken glass outside of the club.

By Christopher Jutting

Outgoing editor of The River's newspaper team. Interested in foreign affairs, classical music and good coffee. Dresses in clothes your dad might wear. Contact me at k1212215@kingston.ac.uk if you'd like to talk to me directly, or use editors.river@gmail.com for general enquiries.