GAY rights activists are protesting against plans to open a lap dancing club near a city's gay area.

Activists in Newcastle have argued that, if allowed, the club could threaten the city's booming gay scene.

The protests have prompted magistrates to defer a decision on an application to change the Sugar Bar, in Westmorland Road, into a lap dancing club, called Privilege.

Developers said they would convert the premises at a cost of £250,000 and said 50 people, excluding dancers, would be employed.

Janice Hutton, of the Gay and Lesbian Action Matrix, told the hearing that visitors to Tyneside's gay area would not feel comfortable if it was a lap dancing venue.

Newcastle City Council's licensing committee turned down the application after objectors said it was near family attractions such as the Centre for Life and the Discovery Museum.

But Sugar licensee Peter Hodgson, who has a similar club in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, is determined to open what would be the third lap dancing venue in the city.

He said strict rules on behaviour would be laid down for customers, and that there would be security cameras monitoring the club