X-rated party forced to keep it clean
Marc Baker, Wales on Sunday
AN ARMY of church-goers forced Britain’s top porn stars to keep their clothes ON for the opening of a sex shop!
Saucy store owner Derek Bartle promised party-goers the Full Monty at the launch in South Wales.
But leading porn actors Cathy Barry and Omar Klein were nowhere to be seen when the shutters of Secret Desires lifted in Taibach, near Port Talbot, on Tuesday.
Last night, Mr Bartle told how he was forced to put his erotic bash back on the top shelf after being besieged by angry locals.
Although the shop was approved by Neath Port Talbot Council, the authority received 50 letters from angry residents and church-goers who were worried about the shop’s closeness to a school and feared it could lower the tone of Taibach.
"We had planned quite a lavish opening but in the end we felt that we did not want to push it in the face of local residents," said Mr Bartle, who runs a similar sex shop in Blackwood.
"We felt something more low-key was appropriate, so we just opened the doors and waited for customers to come in.
"We thought it would be better to open with a murmur rather than a bang."
Despite the low-key opening, the shop’s biggest seller so far has been herbal viagra.
"We have sold more of that than everything else put together," said Mr Bartle. "Many people have come in and have said that they are surprised that the shop is not seedy."
But Taibach councillor John Rogers has promised to monitor the shop.
"There was widespread opposition among local people to the idea of a sex shop in Taibach and hundreds of people supported our campaign against it," he said.
"Taibach is a residential area and the shop will be situated near schools, churches and people’s homes. I will be monitoring the situation closely to ensure it adheres to the terms of its licence."