Sex shop shuts doors to save money in recession

A SHOP with an acquired taste has shut its doors for good.

Sex shop Pillow Talk on Railway Approach closed last week, due to cut backs in the recession.

Sean Fagan, from the Pillow Talk chain, said: "It's all to do with trimming down the company due to the recession. The smaller shops in the company have been carried by some of the bigger ones. We're just reducing our overheads for a bit."

Mr Fagan, manager at the Three Bridges branch of the shop in Crawley, said the company did have plans to reopen the shop, should the economy start to look up.

The sex shop caused controversy when it opened seven years ago as residents thought it was in an "inappropriate" location.

The shop, which specialised in adult toys and lingerie, faced opposition when it opened in 2002.

Chairman of the business support group, Bob Mainstone said the closure of the shop would give a new business an opportunity to benefit from Bluebell Railway visitors.

He said: "It gives a chance for someone else to pick up the opportunity of a lot of passing tourists through that area of the town which we are anxious to improve.

"It needs someone to come forward and say 'I can think of an idea'. If you look at other towns you can see that people have looked at the needs of the town."

Town councillor Mr Mainstone said with the Bluebell Railway expected to arrive in East Grinstead next year, Railway Approach would be the main entrance into the town centre from the station.

He added: "Railway Approach is our link into town. We are aiming to spend some money on that area and we're looking to Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council to pick up this challenge."

The chain has stores across the South East, starting in Margate in Kent in 1980, however the Reigate store closed at the end of last year.

(BLOB) A retrospective planning application for a car sales business in Railway Approach has been criticised by East Grinstead Town Council.

M and B Autos applied for change of use of residential property grounds for "car sales display" despite having used the site for years.

In the proposal the applicants list work they plan to do to tidy up the land.

"Why have they not already done this work?" asked Cllr Ginnie Waddingham. "Why wait till now, until they put in a planning application?

"It is almost like dangling a carrot under our noses."

The application was submitted after a Mid Sussex enforcement officer visited the site.

The town council said it could not support the application without a restriction on the number of cars and a planning condition for a landscaping scheme.