A THIRD lap-dancing club is to open in the town centre.

Fantasy Club is to open in late April at 37-38 Fleet Street after Friday’s council licensing panel approved an application for the staging of pole-dancing, the playing of recorded music, and the sale of alcohol from 9pm to 2am, Tuesday to Wednesday, and from 9pm to 4am, Thursday to Sunday.

The club, which already had the necessary planning permission, will be in the building of the former Angelo’s nightclub, which closed after it had its licence revoked by Swindon Council in 2011 following years of crime linked to the venue.

New applicant Carmine Di Liso, who used to run the Godfather Club, in Victoria Road, says he and his business partners, Domenico Salatino and Max Salatino, have no links to Angelo’s or its former owners, and they want to attract a responsible clientele.

Wiltshire Police asked for a number of conditions to be added to the licence and for a closure time of 2am from Tuesday to Sunday, saying there was already concern over alcohol-related violence in the town centre.

Swindon Pubwatch, which represents many licensed retailers, objected to the application and raised a number of concerns, saying there were enough venues trading until 4am in the area, that the later opening time could increase crime and disorder, and that Swindon was too small for another gentlemen’s club.

However, the licensing panel approved the application, imposing all the licensing conditions recommended by Mr Di Liso and most of those recommended by Wiltshire Police, including the bar being cleared of customers within 30 minutes of its closing, and door supervisors having to check for drunk or underage patrons at least every 30 minutes from 9pm.

The panel also added other conditions, including a last entry time of 2.30am, a maximum number of 120 patrons at any one time, and a minimum of four doormen.

Coun Richard Hurley, the planning committee’s chairman, said there were no grounds for refusing the application and he did not expect the venue to suffer from crime and disorder.

He said: “It’s not a nightclub. It’s totally different to a nightclub, it’s a gentlemen’s club. It’s not a nightclub with the same problems I think a normal nightclub brings.

“It’s not going to be cheap to go into that place, it could be quite expensive. You can see the type of clients they’re trying to attract. If you look at Foxies at the top of town, it’s going to be like that but a different location.”

Mr Di Liso said: “We’re just looking for up-market people, not trouble-makers.

“It will be a place where people will come in for a drink. We’ll work in the same way as we did in Godfather Dreamlounge. We became a friendly place where all friends came for a drink, male and female.”