An undercover council officer paid £20 for lap dancers to perform for him in a Bradford club - all in the name of research.

The Bradford Council licensing officer's detective work at Monroes night club will be revealed to next Wednesday's licensing panel when an application will be made for a year-long entertainment licence for the club.

The club became the first in the district six months ago to obtain an entertainment licence from Bradford Council to allow lap dancing.

The licence has a strict clause banning striptease but the licensing panel relaxed it to allow lap dancing for a trial six months.

Since then Stevie, lap dancer and businesswoman, and bar manager Tony Harling have bought the club from its previous owners.

Members will be told the officer inspected the premises without making himself known to the management to watch the operation of the club.

The officer found the door of the Cheapside club was supervised by three staff and he paid £5 to go in.

The panel will be told he was offered two lap dancers to dance for him at a cost of £20 and accepted.

The dancing took place in a side room separated from the main area by thick curtains and the officer received instructions that he was not to touch the girls.

The officer spoke to one of the dancers after returning to the main hall and she said she enjoyed working at Monroes.

The panel will hear the officer reported that it was a "relaxed and friendly atmosphere."

Conditions imposed by the panel during the six month trial included:

No-one under 18 in the club while dancing is taking place

No physical contact between dancers and clients before, during or after the performance

Performers cannot stage sexually explicit or lewd acts.

Stevie said: "We are delighted the Council's own investigations have given us a clean bill of health. We were confident this would be the case and we welcome further inspections.

"If the Council decide to grant us a full time licence, it will mean we have a stable base for our business which we have proved works in this city despite initial prejudices and some people's opinion it was 'only a Leeds thing'."