CONCERNED residents fear Darlington could become known as the sex capital of the North-East after councillors approved plans for a third sex shop in the town.

An application for a sex shop licence by Provincial Enterprises, a national company which has five other stores in the UK, was approved by the council licensing committee.

The proposal for the shop, in Bondgate in the town centre, has met with fierce opposition from businesses and neighbouring residents, with the council receiving more than 100 letters of objection.

It was the first application Darlington Borough Council had received for a sex shop licence in almost 20 years.

Solicitor Charles McCain, who was speaking on behalf of some of the objectors, said he could not understand the need for a third licensed sex shop in Darlington when many North-East cities and towns had none at all.

He said: "Durham has none, Newcastle has one, Gateshead has none, Middlesbrough has one, Sunderland has none.

"If the council was to grant the licence as requested we would be substantially increasing the number of shops parable to other towns and cities.

"There is a risk that Darlington will be classed as some sort of Soho of the North-East."

Chris Prest, who was representing the Reverend Alan Coates, Minister of Bondgate Methodist Church, said the shop was situated in the wrong location.

He said: "It is one of the main access routes into Darlington. The council encourages tourism, yet tourists will be greeted by a sex shop on a popular route into Darlington. It is also a route that is used regularly by children and residents."

A solicitor, acting on behalf of Andrew Mitchell, proprietor of Provincial Enterprises, said the application should not be refused purely on moral grounds.

She said: "The people who will use the shop are normal people. They do not walk around in dirty macs.

"This is the image of 20 years ago. It is a reputable family-run business.

"If a license is not granted it will open as an unlicensed shop and the council will have no control over how it operates."

Members of the council deliberated in private for more than half an hour before approving the application, subject to ten conditions.

Chairwoman Councillor Isobel Hartley said: "We believe it is better to have control over a sex shop than to have one without control."