This week 30 years ago: ‘Sex shops don’t belong in Holloway Road’
Islington Gazette: March 25, 1988 - Credit: Archant
Neighbours launched an angry campaign to drive away a sex shop from Holloway Road.
The shop was due to open in number 682. Solicitor Stephen Lewis, 25, lived in the flat above and said: “It’s not the sort of property one wants on one’s doorstep.
“It lowers the tone of the neighbourhood. These places have odd opening hours, and men coming in and out at all sorts of different times with brown packages.
“We are organising a large petition to create as much public outcry as possible.”
It won the backing of Cllr Chris King, who said: “I don’t think we want a sex shop in what is an increasingly residential area.”
Meanwhile, angry club owner John Reilly vowed to fight an Islington Council clampdown against his venue.
It imposed a noise curfew on Reillys, in Westbourne Road, over noise complaints. He said: “We are losing customers over this. The neighbours are yuppies who have just moved into the area. I’ve lived here all my life.”
