York stag and hen dos defended after £80 oral sex claim

The case came to light after Last Night of Freedom, which helps organise stag and hen dos, asked City of York Council to disclose details of every licensing complaint against lap dancing/strip clubs, and any other venue in the city that had a sexual establishment licence between 2015 and the present day as part of a Freedom of Information request (FOI).

The unnamed woman claimed it happened at the strip club, Black Orchid, in Toft Green, which has since closed. She said "it should not be allowed - this is one broken family because of it”.

The FOI revealed that this was the only lap dancing licensing complaint in eight years.

“Politicians are desperate to portray York as being awash with alcohol-fuelled groups causing chaos, but time and time again, the facts show that this is complete hyperbole,” said Matt Mavir, managing director of Last Night of Freedom.

A previous FOI request from the company to North Yorkshire Police revealed just seven police incidents, linked directly to stags and hens, since January 2021 while the latest request linked to popular stag and hen activities - in this case lap dancing bar complaints - uncovered just one incident since the start of 2016.

Mr Mavir said that comparatively, the council in another popular stag and hen city, Edinburgh, dealt with almost two dozen in that same period.

“One unproven complaint at a lap dancing bar in eight years doesn’t match-up to the completely over-the-top and; politically driven portrayal of stags and hens in York,” said Matt.

“Some local politicians are keen to portray York’s stag and hen scene as some sort of modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, yet this latest request further illustrates they couldn’t be more wrong. This boozy, lawless culture that they’ve conjured up is a complete exaggeration.

“What we’ve never said is that stags and hens in York are complete angels – like any cross section of society, when there are that many people you are bound to have a few bad apples – but the overwhelming majority are well-behaved and respectful.

“They don’t pick York because the strip clubs are wild and they can get away with what they want – they come because it is a chic, modern city where they can relax with friends.”

Matt Mavir (Image: Supplied)

The lap dancing complaint itself dates back almost seven years, to June 2016. The wife claimed her “idiot” husband visited after being handed a flyer.

She claimed the guilt-stricken husband admitted months later to touching the dancer before giving her oral sex.

The woman’s complaint wasn’t filed until almost a year after the alleged incident, with City of York Council confirming that “no action was taken in relation to this complaint due to the period of time between the alleged incident and the complaint”.

There's no suggestion that the club new anything about the agreement made between the man and the lap dancer.

The Press tried to contact club directors, but was unable to locate them.

In the past York Central MP, Rachael Maskell, has accused the Last Night of Freedom of 'wanting to make profit out of the misery' of people living in the city and said that if Mr Mavir lived anywhere near York, he would clearly hear the concerns that residents have across the city with the prevalence of groups drinking in the city, including those here for stag and hen weekends.

Back in August Ms Maskell said: “With the sharp rise in ‘airbnb’ holiday-lets across the city, residents report how city centre drunken behaviour is then taken into their neighbourhoods.

"It is also impacting on businesses as people are no longer going into York, and parents consistently tell me that they will not expose their children to such scenes whereas visitors tell me they will not be back until something is done.

“The night time economy is running out of control, with York being marked out as the UK’s capital of hen parties.

"We need to put it to a stop, place the needs of residents first and return our city to the people of York.”