Anger over first hardcore sex shop in Oxford Street
Plans for Oxford Street's first fully licensed hard-porn sex shop have been condemned as "totally inappropriate".
The two-storey shop, called Harmony, will open in August at the Tottenham Court Road end of the West End's premier shopping street.
The 4,000 square-foot store will stock lingerie and sex toys on the ground floor and hardcore magazines, DVDs and videos in the basement.
Sally Humphreys, director of the Oxford Street Association, said: "It is totally inappropriate. There is a place for shops like Harmony and it is in Soho."
Although an Ann Summers "adult" store is already on Oxford Street, it does not stock hardcore material - which requires a licence from Westminster council.
Harmony manager Jamie O'Sullivan told Retail Week magazine the company wanted to create a "lifestyle brand" in a "nice retail environment".
He added: "We are regenerating a site previously occupied by a tatty shop, which sold handbags and souvenir knickknacks. We have to abide by stringent regulations from Westminster council to open there. It is going to look as normal a high-street shop as HMV, except that it will be for over-18s only."
Harmony has four licensed sex shops in Soho but has been looking for a more upmarket Oxford Street outlet.