EASTBOURNE, ENGLAND — Part of the picturesque seaside town of Eastbourne in Sussex is less picturesque today after authorities forced a club owner to cover a poster-sized advertisement bearing the image of a scantily clad young woman.Police warned the owner of Inigo Redd gentleman’s club that displaying the picture of a blonde wearing high heels and underwear could be a criminal act.
“We received a complaint from a member of the public that a poster was being displayed in the window that was obscene and that her child had seen it,” police sergeant Julian Williams told the Eastbourne Herald.
According to the sergeant, a local grandmother reported the image, calling it “soft pornography” and complaining that the poster was hung at children’s eye level. Initiallly she attempted to get the club to cover the image, but when general manager Leo Valls refused, she took the matter to the authorities.
Valls reportedly told the grandmother to “get a grip,” calling the poster exotic, not erotic.
“There is a criminal offense of displaying posters, etc., that are threatening, abusive or offensive and which cause alarm, harassment or distress,” Williams told the Herald. “Appropriate action was required, and I have since noted that this was done.”
According to Williams, the envelope-sized piece of paper Valls pasted over the “offensive” portion of the image was sufficient response.
