John Phillips A SEX shop boss has blasted a clampdown stopping him playing pornographic videos inside his store. B C Books manager Bradley Rose, 34, also hit out against the sex industry crackdown banning him from using neon signs, calling his Dagenham premises a sex

John Phillips

A SEX shop boss has blasted a clampdown stopping him playing pornographic videos inside his store.

B C Books manager Bradley Rose, 34, also hit out against the sex industry crackdown banning him from using neon signs, calling his Dagenham premises a "sex shop" and forcing him to use double doors.

The conditions, on top of an annual trading charge of nearly �20,000, compared to �1,000 in parts of Essex, were imposed last week, following a complaint from Barking and Dagenham Mayor Cllr Emmanuel Obasohan.

The Southwark pastor with the Church of God Mission International asked that the shop in Bennetts Castle Lane be stripped of its licence.

Mr Rose said: "�20,000 is a lot a year to find. It's ridiculous.

"If any consenting adult is coming into a sex shop, they're not going to be offended.

"They've entered an establishment for the purpose of buying adult material. You're not coming into a sex shop to buy a pack of sweets, are you?"

Mr Rose has previously disputed his trading charge increase from �12,300 last year to �19,000, saying he paid just �1,000 for his sex shop in Thurrock, Essex.

Barking and Dagenham Council said the revised charge was imposed in order not to penalise taxpayers.

A spokesman said: "We constantly compare our fees with other councils and across the board we compare very favourably.

"Nevertheless, in some specialist areas such as sex shops where very few licences are issued, the local circumstances mean the cost of this type of licence needs to be borne by a small number of businesses, to avoid a subsidy being paid by local council tax payers.