A SOUTHAMPTON strip club has had its licence reinstated following allegations of a serious crime.

It comes as last year the police launched an investigation into reports that a customer of For Your Eyes Only on High Street paid out more than £30,000 during an eight hour-long stay at the venue.

As previously reported, the strip club was temporarily closed while city licensing chiefs carried out a review.

But they have now decided that For Your Eyes Only can reopen with immediate effect as they have reinstated the strip club's licence but with some conditions.

The Licensing and Gambling Sub Committee at Southampton City Council made its decision in a behind-closed-doors meeting held yesterday.

In a statement the authority said: "The Licensing and Gambling Sub Committee at Southampton City Council met [on February 10] to review the premises licence of For Your Eyes Only, 135-136 High Street.

“After careful consideration of all the evidence, the committee has lifted the suspension imposed at a previous meeting, allowing the premises to reopen with immediate effect.

“The committee imposed a set of conditions agreed with the police and the council’s licensing manager.

“The committee heard the licence holder does not condone the actions reported by the police, has assisted them with their investigations and has taken numerous steps to ensure there is no repeat of the incident.

“The staff involved in the incident reported are no longer at the premises and there is improved surveillance in place.

“More importantly the conditions imposed by the hearing require a strict auditing process to be adhered to that will prevent a repeat of the events leading to this hearing.”

The review comes after police reportedly wrote a letter to the city council following an alleged incident in December 2019.

In the letter, it is understood the force said it was investigating after a customer of the strip bar spent £33,000 from three of his bank accounts, but later had no recollection of the transactions.

Following today's meeting Cllr Sue Blatchford, chair of the licensing and gambling subcommittee, said: “It was noted the licence holder did not condone those actions and has taken significant steps to address the shortcomings, including her own. The sub-committee consider the list of conditions agreed between the police, licensing office and the licence holder are sufficient to address our concerns and have therefore agreed to allow the premises to continue to operate but with the conditions agreed between the parties.”