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Historic Bank Street is fast becoming raunchy Bank Street.

Just three months after the opening of the Pillowtalk adult sex shop comes what could be Maidstone’s first “gentleman’s” club, featuring fully nude dancers.

Club 76, was due to launch last night (Thursday). It will run every Thursday, from 9pm to 1am, in the upstairs cocktail bar of Banks.

A pool of 15 dancers will perform pole dancing and exotic lap dancing routines. People will have to pay £20 for a private, nude dance.

Club 76 is the brainchild of Mark Wilding, from Maidstone who approached Banks’ licensees Ainslie Vine and Julie Lucas, who will rent their upstairs bar for the club.

It is the first venture of its type set up by Mr Wilding, who chose the dancers after auditions.

He said: “We will have to wait and see whether Maidstone is ready for this. But this sort of thing has been happening in London for the last 60 years and the emphasis is on making it an exclusive club.”

Mr Vine added: “Banks will not be open on a Thursday night, for anything other than the club. All the dancing takes place upstairs – no-one will be able to see anything from the street.

“There will be a strict door policy, it is over 21s only. There will be lots of security. We deliberately did not want private booths as we want to be able to see what is going on at all times.”

Advertising has been done through word of mouth and through flyers handed out in the town centre .

Mr Vine said they had agreed to the new club because of the credit crunch and a noticeable drop in weeknight drinking. Banks now has a new licence, allowing nude dancing.

Clive Smith, 57, of Abbotsfield, Barming, was one of those given a Club 76 flyer while out shopping in Week Street.

He said: “It was a bit of a shock to see nude dancing being offered in Maidstone, it does sound like the club will be well-run.