ELDERLY residents' lives will be blighted by plans to open an adult cabaret venue in Colchester town centre, the boss of a housing charity has claimed.

Edward Wright, chairman of the Ogilvie Charities, has raised concerns about the plans to open the new venue inside the former Embassy Suite, in Balkerne Hill.

The charity's Charles May House and Estrella House are adjoined to the site and Mr Wright said some residents' windows overlook the entrance of the proposed Solo Summers club.

In a letter to the Gazette, Mr Wright said: "There are several residential roads within a few minutes walk of the Embassy Suite and we feel it is not an appropriate place for a sex club.

"Our residents will suffer from the noise of people leaving the club until the early hours - the closing time may be 2am, but the disturbance will continue until well after this as people wait for taxis."

He added: "We aim to provide our residents with a peaceful and pleasant environment and fear that their lives will be blighted by this proposal."

Business owner Ian Saunders received planning permission from Colchester Council to covert the premises, but still needs a licence application to be approved.

He has insisted the business will be "nothing sordid" and host activities for people of all genders and sexualities.

Mr Saunders said: "There has been a lot of unnecessary focus on Solo Summers being a ‘sex club’, which it isn’t, we are proudly the quintessential adult arts entertainment venue.

"Any venue in the UK which shows even partial nudity for one night per month over 11 consecutive months in a calendar year requires an unfortunately Government titled ‘sex entertainment venue’ licence.

"This is actually misleading as one can imagine events of a sordid nature and this is not representative of the Solo Summers unique concept of entertainment."

Mr Saunders said the homes in question were already in close proximity to one of the busiest streets for nighttime revelry in Colchester - Crouch Street but said his business would have sound-proofing and crowd dispersement measures in place.

"Due to the size of the premises, the Embassy building would only be fitting of an entertainment style of business and if it is not Solo Summers, it would inevitably be another similar type business that would be faced with the same concerns," he said.

"We duly care about our nearby residents and as such we intend to plan hold monthly meetings with nearby residents to discuss issues and make solid plans around each and every issue raised."