Locals fight naturist spa licence

A UK naturist spa hotel is facing a fight from neighbours, residents and councillors after it applied for a licence to serve alcohol.

The Clover Spa and Hotel

According to reports in the Daily Telegraph, neighbours are concerned that the addition of alcohol “risks turning the venue into a raucous strip club”.

The owners of the Clover Spa and Hotel in Birmingham, the UK’s first naturist hotel, told the newspaper that the locals were over-reacting and that the objections were “unfounded”.

Tim Higgs, owner of the spa, said: “I do not get where the objectors are coming from.

“We are talking a glass of wine with dinner or a drink relaxing in the garden.

“It is a spa, a respectful, quality establishment for naturists, not a pub, you can’t just come in off the street.

“This is something extra for the benefit of customers, not a big part of the business.”

But a local Conservative councillor dismissed the owner’s claims and said that a drinks licence will turn the spa into a strip club, attracting “local youths and trouble makers.”

Councillor Robert Alden told the Birmingham Mail: “There will be a rise in inappropriate behaviour and displays of flesh. We have already had complaints over recent years, passed on to the council about people being nude in the garden and being visible from neighbouring properties and the nursery.

“Having clients who have had a few drinks will only worsen this situation.”

But Mr Higgs added that the local police have been supportive of the hotel and have raised no objections to the granting of an alcohol licence.

He added: “The police have visited and have been supportive, there is no objection from them. I have invited our local councillors to come and look around, but they have declined. That invitation is still there.”