Landlord could block Tooley Street lapdancing

Network Rail, the owners of the premises under a Tooley Street railway arch, have now written to the Mayor of London making clear that they have no intention of allowing their premises to be used for such a purpose and warning that the leaseholder will be in breach of his lease if he tries to go ahead with the dancing club.

In correspondence between the Mayor's office and Spacia (the trading arm of Network Rail), Spacia have now said: "The general objections to the proposed lap dancing club have been noted and I can advise that Network Rail take a similar view. Under the terms of the lease for the premises consent is required for the proposed change of use. Network Rail has refused to grant consent. The leaseholder will not be permitted to use the premises for this purpose and would be in breach of the lease if the use is carried out on the premises."

Spacia's letter to the Mayor's office continued: "We will be monitoring the situation and will take appropriate action, as determined by Landlord and Tenant law, if the tenant is found to be in breach of their lease."

The Mayor's office says that appropriate action for a breach could be a termination of the lease and Network Rail have asked that given the proximity of City Hall, that the Mayor should inform them of any possible breaches to the contract.

"I welcome Network Rail's decision," says the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. "They are to be congratulated on taking their responsibilities to the local area seriously."

"Local residents and businesses have made clear that they are totally opposed to a lap-dancing club in this area. The result of a similar establishment caused serious nuisance particularly for women working and living in this area."

"It is a shame that Southwark Council pressed ahead with licensing this strip club without ascertaining whether of not the owners of the premises would allow such a change in the terms of the lease. Throughout this process Southwark have demonstrated a woeful lack of resolve."

"The correspondence from Network Rail shows how disappointing it was that the London Assembly failed to back women and families living and working in this area by taking a strong stand against this club. The Assembly voted down a motion opposing the strip club and refused to back the local campaign against it. Instead they voted for a motion moved by Lord Tope that merely noted that a strip club was planned and called for monitoring to ensure there was no breach of the license. The Assembly failed to put people working and living in the area first."

• Online petition