SAUNAS

A private Edinburgh businessman, Mike Anthony, has presented a tricky legal challenge to Edinburgh City Council which has the potential to shut down the city's entire illicit sex trade.

His case, based on European Human Rights Law, is that by virtue of the Councillors being fully aware, as they indeed are, that Edinburgh's Sauna and Massage Parlours are commonly fronts for prostitution, the Council are acting illegally by granting these premises licences and in doing so are actually aiding and abetting a criminal offence. In consequence, he argues, Councillors are discriminating against ordinary persons by allowing a specific category of people to wantonly break the law.

Current Council policy is to license saunas and massage parlours as "places of entertainment" and premises of this kind cannot operate without one.

The Council view is that such a policy at least allows them some degree of control and regulation in a "business" that would otherwise be driven underground.

At the time of writing, Mr. Anthony has lodged formal objections against applications by 19 massage parlours for renewal of their operating licenses.

The Council will ignore the objections. The licenses will be granted. Mr Anthony will take them to court. Edinburgh's seedy side will be put under the media microscope.

It all promises to be great "entertainment".