CONTROVERSIAL plans to bring table dancing to a former city centre social club took another step forward last night.

Entertainment company SFI plc was granted a late-night liquor licence for the proposed club, For Your Eyes Only, which it plans to create in the old Manors' Social Club, in Carliol Square, Newcastle.

Licensing magistrates in Gosforth, Newcastle, made their decision following a day-long hearing, despite the objections of a variety of opposition groups.

Forty protestors from Christian organisations, and women's and student groups, staged a demonstration outside the court, with the slogan "Sexism out of the City".

They claimed the club would provide "sordid" entertainment, exploiting and degrading women", and was out of keeping with Newcastle's joint bid with Gateshead for European Capital of Culture status.

Andrew Latham, of SFI, which plans to spend £1m to open what would be its fifth such club, said the company had "a substantial background, answerable to shareholders, police and the courts".